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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Maine Gov.'s nominee aces interviews, joins Supreme Ct.

Maine Superior Court

AUGUSTA -- A former Maine Superior Court judge who has worked her way up through the state's judicial ranks has now joined its highest bench. Judge Ellen A. Gorman was sworn in Monday by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci as the newest member of Maine's seven-member Supreme Judicial Court. Gorman replaces the retiring Susan W. Calkins, who had served on the Supreme Court since 1998. Gorman was nominated by Baldacci and received a unanimous 10-0 vote from the House Judiciary Committee in mid-September on her way to Senate confirmation, AP reported. Democrats hold a 6-4 majority on the Judiciary Committee, which also unanimously supported Gorman's Superior Court replacement, Mary Michaela Murphy. Gorman served on the state Workers Compensation Commission before joining the District Court in 1989. There she presided over criminal, civil, regulatory and family cases, including one high-profile homicide. In response to a question from Republican Sen. David Hastings, she denied she would be an activist on the top bench. "I do not see myself as someone who is going to be creating new laws," she told state lawmakers. Other new judges also sworn in Monday included John Nivison to the Superior Court and Patricia Worth and Richard Mulhern to the District Court.

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