{"id":42601,"date":"2016-07-27T09:33:57","date_gmt":"2016-07-27T09:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=42601"},"modified":"2016-07-27T17:35:24","modified_gmt":"2016-07-27T17:35:24","slug":"mapp-appeals-case-to-remove-dunston-as-presiding-judge-to-third-circuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=42601","title":{"rendered":"Mapp Appeals Case To Remove Dunston As Presiding Judge To Third Circuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Unsatisfied with a federal judgement that permanently barred<\/a><\/span> him from removing Judge Michael Dunston as the presiding judge of the territory’s Superior Court, Governor Kenneth Mapp on Tuesday filed a notice<\/a><\/span> with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals — the Pennsylvania court being the house of justice that hears U.S. Virgin Islands Third Circuit appeal cases — in an ongoing attempt to remove Judge Dunston from his role.<\/p>\n

The July 22 judgement served as a setback for Mr. Mapp,\u00a0who had hoped to replace Judge Dunston with Judge Harold Willocks to lead the Superior Court as presiding judge; and as a win for Judge Dunston, who argued that the governor\u2019s\u00a0attempt amounted to<\/a><\/span> an ill-conceived, \u201cegregious abuse of executive power, \u201d and misguided. The lawsuit also assailed the governor for violating the separation of powers balance.<\/p>\n

On Friday, June 17, Mr. Mapp announced the appointment of Judge Harold A. Willocks to serve as presiding judge of the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, replacing current Presiding Judge Dunston.<\/p>\n

The Consortium described the action as one that might have been without precedent<\/a><\/span>, as it\u2019s extremely rare that a governor, aside from appointing judges, becomes involved in matters of the judicial branch of government.<\/p>\n

The governor cited Virgin Islands Code Title 4, Chapter 71, which he says gives him the authority to replace Judge Dunston with Willocks as presiding judge.<\/p>\n

That section of the code<\/a><\/span> reads:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Governor shall designate one of the judges of the court to serve as presiding judge of the court to preside for such term, perform such duties, and exercise such authority as may be otherwise provided by law, or by rules of the court.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

But the law, while clear on the ability of a governor to appoint a presiding judge, does not say that a governor can remove a judge from the position without the term of said judge being expired.\u00a0Judge Dunston was appointed by former Governor John P. de Jongh in 2013 for a six-year term.<\/p>\n

The governor said Judge Dunston would retain his tenure as a judge of the Superior Court until September 26, 2019. Judge Dunston\u2019s last day as presiding judge would be June 26, after which Judge Willocks would commence his term as presiding judge \u2014 but that was before Wednesday\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n

Mr. Mapp said that his decision to replace Judge Dunston was based on the slow pace in which cases go to trial in the Virgin Islands. He said the Superior Court lost millions while attempting to computerize its system, and still remains out of sync in an age of technology. Amplifying the problem, Mr. Mapp added, some judges were failing to report to work. And while the federal judiciary has offered the Superior Court access to use its system for little to no fees, the Superior Court had yet to utilize the offer.\u00a0\u201cThe Superior Court remains lethargic, non-functioning and simply, in 2016, a paper operation,\u201d Mr. Mapp said.<\/p>\n

The governor added that in his attempt to \u201cinvigorate\u201d the Superior Court to help it meet the demands of the 21st Century \u2014 including speeding up the trials of over 175 detainees at Golden Grove, some of whom have been waiting over three years \u2014 he would transmit a bill to the Legislature calling for what is dubbed a Virgin Islands Speedy Trial Act, \u201cthat will require when persons are arrested and charged with criminal offenses in the Virgin Islands, that their day of reckoning in the court is understood and clear,\u201d Mr. Mapp said.<\/p>\n

The territory\u2019s leader said that the G.V.I. is spending \u201chuge monetary resources\u201d to house, feed and provide medical service for detainees while they await trial. \u201cThis cannot continue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to Judge Dunston\u2019s original filing, the presiding judge said he received a call from the governor on June 16, which Mr. Mapp had revealed during a press conference while announcing his action. Judge Dunston said the governor was clearly displeased with his opposition to a court unification bill sponsored by Senators Kenneth Gittens and Nereida Rivera-O\u2019Reilly, which attempts to unify the court system in the territory and is supported by the governor.<\/p>\n

It also includes a provision that would strip away the power Mr. Mapp exercised on June 17. Instead, the law, based on the federal system, would call for the rotation of judges within the Superior Court every three years, based on seniority, to serve as presiding judge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ST. THOMAS — Unsatisfied with a federal judgement that permanently barred him from removing Judge Michael Dunston as the presiding judge of the territory’s Superior Court, Governor Kenneth Mapp on Tuesday filed a notice with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals — the Pennsylvania court being the house of justice that hears U.S. Virgin Islands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[228,11,191,2474,147],"tags":[1055,5329,121],"yoast_head":"\nMapp Appeals Case To Remove Dunston As Presiding Judge To Third Circuit - V.I. 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I've been the Editor-In-Chief at my videogames website, Gamesthirst, for over 5 years, writing over 7,000 articles and more than 2 million words. I'm also very passionate about where I live, the United States Virgin Islands, and I'm intent on making it a better place by being resourceful and keeping our leaders honest. VI Consortium was birthed out of said desire, hopefully my efforts bear fruit. Reach me at ernice@viconsortium.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/ernicegilbert.com\/\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mapp Appeals Case To Remove Dunston As Presiding Judge To Third Circuit - V.I. 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