Governor to appoint new Chief Judge of the R.I. Family Court

As a family court practitioner, I am very curious regarding who the governor will choose. The article below attempts to sum up the options. I have heard a lot of banter at the courthouse from seasoned veterans that things are not likely to change regardless of who is put in that seat... but I hope they are wrong. The system is flawed and people suffer because of it.

I will do my best to work through whatever system we have and work to get my client's through it with as few "bumps and bruises" as may be possible. I do hope though, whomever is chosen upholds the law, understands what parts of the system work and what parts do not, and remember that they are dealing with people: first and foremost. There must be a better way to get to the other side than what is in place at this moment.

If you are thinking about a divorce or other family court action, call us at 401-841-5700 and we can discuss what you might expect, the time it will take, and how we can help you to move on to the next step of your life.

5 finalists selected for chief judge of R.I. Family Court

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, August 18, 2010
By Katie Mulvaney (Journal Staff Writer) Providence Journal

PROVIDENCE — The Judicial Nominating Committee Tuesday night picked five Family Court judges as finalists to take the top seat at the court that handles divorce, child custody and some of the state’s most heart-rending cases.

The names the commission will send to Governor Carcieri as possible nominees to replace former Family Court Chief Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. include Judges Kathleen A. Voccola, Michael B. Forte, Laureen D’Ambra, Haiganush R. Bedrosian and Stephen J. Capineri. John E. McCann, who joined the bench in October, was the only contender not to make the list.


All eight commission members present voted in favor of naming Capineri and Forte as finalists. D’Ambra and Voccola each won seven votes. Commission member D. Faye Sanders opted not to support D’Ambra, while C. June Tow did not back Voccola.

Bedrosian, who has served as acting chief of the court since Jeremiah’s retirement June 30, won six votes. She failed to gain support from Sanders and fellow commissioner Norman L. Landroche Jr. Sanders cast the single vote for McCann. Commissioners Mirlen A. Martinez Mal and Jeffrey M. Grybowski voted, although they did not attend the commission’s interviews of the candidates last week. Sanders also cast votes though she only briefly observed interviews.

There is no provision in the commission’s rules that prohibits a member from voting without participating in the interviews, Commission Chairman Dr. Herbert J. Brennan said. All the members had read each of the candidates’ applications, he said.


Before voting, the commission heard testimony from colleagues, friends and family of the six candidates as well as critics of the Family Court system.

Retired Family Court Judge Pamela M. Mactaz spoke on Bedrosian’s behalf as a friend and former colleague. Mactaz emphasized the importance of institutional knowledge to hoist the court out of its present “malaise” and lead it into the future. “The next chief justice of this court has to make some difficult choices,” Mactaz said, adding, “This is a woman who can say no.” Bedrosian, 67, of Warwick, joined the court in 1980, with prior private practice and prosecutorial experience.


Providence lawyer Patricia Rocha, daughter of the late Family Court Judge Gilbert T. Rocha, praised Capineri’s sharp mind, integrity and inclination to use education as a tool within the court. Capineri, 56, of East Providence, was named to the Family Court bench in 2001, after serving as a magistrate there for five years.

Voccola won accolades from Brother Brendan Gerrity, the executive director of Ocean Tides, the Narragansett-based school for troubled boys. Voccola, he said, affirms juveniles when juveniles need to be affirmed and treats kids with fair impartiality. With confidence and good humor, Voccola possesses the ability to make tough decisions, he said. Voccola was named to the bench in 1989 after serving as state liquor-control administrator.


Lia Stuhlsatz, a staff lawyer for Rhode Island Legal Services, told of Forte’s unsentimental fairness in applying the law. Forte, she said, gave a former client who had been in and out of jail a chance to prove she was a fit mother, despite her time in prison. His two decades on the bench had imbued him with the confidence and courage to send a child in state custody home, she said. Forte, 58, of Johnston, was appointed to the court in 1987. He served as a state senator in East Bay in the 1980s.

Victoria M. Almeida, president of the Rhode Island Bar Association, said D’Ambra had the experience and vision to bring the court into the modern day. She extolled D’Ambra’s collaborative approach and the administrative ability and strength of character she showed in challenging state practices as the former child advocate.


D’Ambra, 53, of Lincoln, joined the court in 2004, after acting as the child advocate for 15 years.
John E. McCann IV said his father could be stern when needed, but that he had a respectful manner and a voracious appetite for knowledge. “His only bias will be to do what is right,” the younger McCann said. McCann, 60, of Barrington, came to the court in October with 30 years of experience in private practice.

Under Rhode Island law, the governor is required to fill the vacancy within 21 days after the commission sends him the finalists. But his spokeswoman Amy Kempe said Carcieri views the 21-day time frame as merely advisory. The lifetime post carries a $154,707 base salary.