Vt. Marriage Equality Champion Nominated for State Supreme Court

The governor of Vermont has nominated a lawyer who helped bring civil unions to the state in 2000 and then, nine years later, helped usher in the state's granting of marriage equality for gay and lesbian families.

Gov. Peter Shumlin named Beth Robinson, 46, as a candidate for a seat on the Vermont Supreme Court on Oct. 18, local newspaper the Burlington Free Press reported that same day.

"Justice Denise Johnson announced in May that she was going to retire at the end of the summer from the post she has held since 1990," the newspaper reported. "Johnson was Vermont's first female justice."

The article noted that Robinson assumed her current role as general legal counsel to Shumlin at the beginning of this year.

As a lawyer in private practice, Robinson was instrumental in making Vermont the first state in the union to offer civil unions to same-sex couples. Robinson was co-counsel in the case that led to that step forward for gay families.

Shumlin lauded the nominee upon making his announcement in Montpelier, online news site VT Digger.com reported on Oct. 18.

"Beth has extraordinary integrity; she is one of the most decent, fair, hardworking, bright people in this great state, and I can't tell you how privileged I am to nominate her to the Supreme Court," the governor said.

"There is no one that I know of who is more able to carry out justice for Vermonters, to be fair and clear and promote the greatness of this state than Beth Robinson," Shumlin added. "I say that having interviewed many candidates and having been floored by the quality of the candidates that were sent to me by the nominating judiciary board.

"All I can tell you is, it was a tough decision, but it's a real honor to present to you the next justice of the Supreme Court."

"I'm really humbled by the confidence Gov. Shumlin has placed in me, and I hope I can live up to it," Robinson said. "I look forward to serving in the judiciary, and I hope the high praise the governor has given me is true."

VT Digger sketched Robinson's career, noting that she worked with the Vermont Freedom to Marry Taskforce even as she forged her legal career. Eventually, Robinson helped usher in civil unions and then marriage parity in Vermont.

"[W]e talk a lot about the separation of powers as a fundamental principle, but I also experienced firsthand the complete interdependence of our separate branches and the importance of involving all of them in the important conversations we have about fundamental constitutional rights," Robinson reflected.

"In her full-time legal practice, she was an advocate for Vermonters who are going through divorces, family difficulties, employment problems or injuries," VT Digger reported.

"I see the Supreme Court as the place where the rubber meets the road, where the concepts that we call law intersect with the lives of real people, and I think it's a tremendous responsibility to fit those two together and to do it in a way that it's fair and that's consistent with the rule of law and I take that very seriously," Robinson said.

Politico dubbed the nomination a "full circle" moment in an Oct. 18 article, recollecting, "The Vermont Supreme Court ruled in Baker vs. Vermont that giving straight couples special rights violated the state constitution, and allowed the legislature to come up with a solution.

"Civil unions, which Howard Dean signed into law in 2000, were at the time so groundbreaking that a grateful gay community provided much of the early support for Dean's near-miss 2004 presidential campaign."

"Robinson joins openly lesbian judges currently serving on the state Supreme Courts of Massachusetts, Oregon and Hawaii," noted Daily Kos on Oct. 18.