A legislative committee on Wednesday endorsed Gov. Janet Mills' latest nominee to serve on Maine's highest court.
Justice Wayne Douglas has served on district or superior courts for more than 20 years and has also presided over York County's drug treatment and recovery court. Mills nominated the 71-year-old for Maine's Supreme Judicial Court following the retirement of Associate Justice Thomas Humphrey last year.
Members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee voted 10-2 to recommend Douglas’ nomination to the full Maine Senate following a confirmation hearing. Before being nominated to the District Court bench by former Gov. Angus King in 2002, Douglas served in the King administration, including as his legal counsel.
During his hearing, Douglas acknowledged the significant challenges facing Maine’s judicial system, including a severe backlog of criminal cases, a shortage of court-appointed attorneys for low-income defendants and a large number of people in the judicial system with mental health and substance use disorders. He said improving access to justice requires the court system to “continually question, examine and evolve what we do and how we do it.
"In the end, we are all working to deliver justice fairly, impartially and humanely for people and all that they care about,” Douglas told lawmakers. “It's been an honor for me to play a small part in this process, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue in the role of associate justice on the Supreme Court.”
No one testified against Douglas during the hearing. He was endorsed by the Maine Prosecutors Association, the Maine State Bar Association, the Maine Trial Lawyers Association and several attorneys who appeared before Douglas, either on the prosecution or defense side.
“I have come to appreciate his thoughtful, reasoned approach to every issue, being that the mundane scheduling issues that plague a court planning process or the larger issues involving complex legal and sentencing issues,” said York County District Attorney Kathryn Slattery, who has worked with Douglas on a regular basis since 2015 when he joined the Superior Court. “He brings that approach to all and has earned the respect of all of my staff.”
The full Senate will take up Douglas’ nomination in the coming days.
