AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine Senate on Thursday indefinitely delayed confirmation votes on the reappointments of District Court Judge Jeffrey Moskowitz and Superior Court Justice William Anderson.
Information on why the votes were tabled was not available Thursday afternoon. Efforts to reach Sen. David Burns, R-Whiting, who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, were unsuccessful.
Neither judge was in Augusta on Thursday for the scheduled vote, according to Mary Ann Lynch, spokeswoman for the court system.
Sen. David Dutremble, D-Biddeford, opposed Moskowitz’s nomination before the Judiciary Committee on May 7. He is expected to speak against the judge’s confirmation on the floor when the vote is taken.
Moskowitz issued a controversial, illegal gag order on the media during a criminal proceeding in January in Portland, only to rescind it under fire two days later.
Without debate or comment, the Judiciary Committee on Tuesday unanimously endorsed his reappointment for another seven-year term. The committee held a hearing May 7 at which several people who had appeared before him in family court matters opposed his remaining on the bench.
Moskowitz was appointed to the District Court bench in January 2008 by Gov. John Baldacci after work as a prosecutor with the York County district attorney’s office. Gov. Paul LePage renominated Moskowitz for the bench in April.
Anderson, who was District Court judge for more than a decade before being elevated to the Superior Court bench in 2008, was endorsed unananimoulsy by the Judiciary Committee after a short hearing May 7. No one opposed his reappointment for another seven-year term.