AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage on Tuesday nominated Judges Wayne R. Douglas, Bruce C. Mallonee and Lance E. Walker to the Maine Superior Court.

“I am pleased to nominate three individuals with distinguished records on the bench,” said LePage in a written statement. “In choosing judges, my focus is on the qualifications, demeanor and integrity of the candidates, not politics. These nominees reflect those priorities.”

Douglas of Ocean Park was appointed to the Maine District Court bench by former Gov. Angus King, for whom Douglas had been chief legal counsel, in 2002. Douglas also served a stint as the associate commissioner of the Maine Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

Douglas, a Bates College graduate who holds a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law, would replace Justice Paul Fritzche when Fritzche retires in July.

Mallonee of Bangor has been a member of the Maine District Court since he was appointed to that bench by former Gov. John Baldacci in 2010. Mallonee is a former partner at the Bangor Law firm Rudman & Winchell. He would replace Justice Joyce Wheeler, who has retired. Mallonee is a graduate of the University of Kansas and earned a law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law.

Walker of Falmouth was appointed to the Maine District Court bench in 2014 after having been a partner in the firm Norman, Hanson & DeTroy LLC in Portland. Walker also served as a law clerk to three Superior Court justices. Walker is a graduate of the University of Maine and has his law degree from the University of Maine School of Law.

Walker would replace Justice Thomas Humphrey, who was nominated for the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in early May.

The nominations are subject to review by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, followed by confirmation by the full Senate.


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