Candidate Kennedy Calls for Transparency in the Selection of Judges and Operation of Governor's Council  

 
Speaking before a group of supporters in Revere on Wednesday, Democratic Party nominee for Governor’s Council in the Sixth District, Attorney Terrence Kennedy of Lynnfield, promoted both his vision of a judicial nominating process that would mandate more openness and less secrecy, as well as a Governor’s Council whose proceedings would be available for broadcast to citizens across the Commonwealth.

Attorney Kennedy said, “The current system as to how Judges are now selected is cloaked in an unnecessary layer of secrecy that suggests to many the feeling of old style, back room maneuverings rather than reasoned deliberation. Similarly, the lack of access to citizens of the deliberations of the Governor’s Council and its proceedings is one of the key reasons so few citizens understand either its responsibilities or its importance”.

Attorney Kennedy continued, “Transparency leads to the kind of citizen education and information that helps limit the sense of isolation the people often feel from its government. There is no doubt in my mind that part of the anger being displayed in this election cycle can be traced directly to the failure of government to provide more information of what it does and why it does it.”

“There is no reason”, Kennedy went on, “that the process for selecting and reviewing judicial appointments shouldn’t be open and transparent.”
Similarly, there is no reason why the deliberations of the Governor’s Council can’t be televised across the Commonwealth so citizens can hear and see the nominees to what are essentially lifetime appointments before they are confirmed by the Council.”

“The key is transparency”, Kennedy concluded, “and its benefits are a more open, more easily understood, and more accessible government.”

Publication date: October 9, 2010

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