Rendell to name Colins as justice

Gov. Rendell is poised to name former Commonwealth Court Judge James Gardner Colins an interim appointee to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, over the objection of Senate Republicans who predicted a battle over the nomination.

Colins, 61, a Democrat from Philadelphia, was the longest-serving judge in the 37-year history of the intermediate appellate court. He announced in October that he was stepping down to speak out about the need for judicial independence and perhaps to return to practicing law.

A news conference is scheduled for this afternoon in Harrisburg, and Rendell is expected to name Colins as his choice for the high court, according to a Capitol source and a Senate Republican. The governor also plans to fill several other appellate vacancies.

Colins confirmed last night that he would be nominated today. He said he was aware of the looming Senate opposition but expressed optimism that he would be approved.

"I'm extremely flattered and humbled," Colins said. "I think I will be confirmed and I'm looking forward to it."

A spokesman for Rendell would not confirm the nomination.

Colins became interested in the appointment when Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy, a Democrat from Pittsburgh, announced plans to step down. Colins, if confirmed by the state Senate, would serve until after voters elect a new justice late next year.

Stephen MacNett, chief counsel to the Senate Republicans, said they had advised the governor's office that appointing Colins may end up a "wasted effort."

"It will cause a big fight," MacNett said. "It may well cause that vacancy on that court to extend for months."

Senate Republicans wanted former Justice James J. Fitzgerald 3d, a Philadelphia Republican who had been an interim justice until earlier this month, to be renominated for another interim term.

MacNett said Republicans even agreed to support a compromise candidate, Ken Gormley, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh who is a Democrat.

But he said Senate Republicans were told that Rendell had decided on Colins, a longtime friend from their undergraduate days at the University of Pennsylvania.

MacNett said a key concern about Colins was that he might not be permitted to take part in cases that reach the Supreme Court on appeal from Colins' former court, thus reducing the number of justices to consider significant issues from that court.

For the state's highest court, 2008 will be a time of significant transformation.

Newly installed Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, a former Philadelphia district attorney who was elected a justice in 1993, is at the helm of the seven-member court, and two newly elected justices, Seamus P. McCaffery of Philadelphia and Debra Todd of Butler County, both Democrats, took office this month.