Antigay Romney goes liberal in judge selection

While Republican governor Mitt Romney reinforces his conservative credentials around the country in preparation for a possible presidential run in 2008, in his home state of Massachusetts he has leaned more to the left when filling judicial vacancies, according to a published report. Of the 36 people Romney has named to be judges or clerk magistrates, 23 are either registered Democrats or unenrolled voters who have made contributions to Democratic politicians or who have voted in Democratic primaries, according to records reviewed by The Boston Globe.

Overall, Romney has nominated nine registered Republicans, 13 unenrolled voters, and 14 registered Democrats, including two gay lawyers who have supported expanding rights for gays and lesbians. Romney insists he does not look at political leanings when nominating judges but rather concentrates on legal experience and toughness on crime. "People on both sides of the aisle want to put the bad guys away," he said.

Romney points out that so far he has not had a chance to appoint judges to the highest state courts, where he would change his criteria to include "strict construction, judicial philosophy." "With regard to those at the district and clerk magistrate level, their political views aren't really going to come into play unless their views indicate they will be soft on crime," Romney said.

Still, some see a contradiction between his judicial nominations and his efforts to appear more conservative around the nation, which could backfire politically. "I've long since given up trying to figure out what makes Mitt Romney tick," said Joyce Kauffman, former cochair of the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association.

Romney has been praised by the legal community for replacing regional judicial nominating committees, which were viewed as politically tainted, with a centralized commission. The commission considers applicants during the first phase of the selection process without names on applications to make sure candidates are judged on their merits alone. After Romney makes a nomination, the selection must be approved by the Governor's Council, where Democrats hold eight of nine seats. "He's tried to have a process devoid of politics, [but] he also has to get his nominees approved by the Governor's Council, and that is not a bipartisan body," said Bradley H. Jones Jr., Republican minority leader in the house.

In May, Romney selected for a district court judgeship Stephen S. Abany, a former board member of the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association who organized the group's opposition to a 1999 bill to outlaw same-sex marriage. The apparent contradictions might not play well in the GOP strongholds where Romney has been touting his conservative credentials in recent months.

South Carolina's Republican primary voters might think twice about supporting a Massachusetts governor whose judicial picks have been "actively lobbying for gay marriage," said Rick Beltram, chairman of the Spartanburg County, S.C., Republican Party, which hosted Romney at a fund-raiser in February. "That could be a problem," he said. (AP)