Deadline Approaches For Holcomb To Pick New Justice

Indiana will have a new Supreme Court justice in the next three weeks when Gov. Eric Holcomb makes his pick.

The state’s Judicial Nominating Commission sent Holcomb three candidates to pick from around the end of April. The window to make that decision closes in a few weeks.

His choices are three county court judges – Vicki Carmichael, Christopher Goff, and Matthew Kincaid. And Indiana University law professor Joel Schumm says their similarities far outweigh their differences.

“They’ve done remarkable and innovative things as judges and they had distinguished backgrounds before that and they’re involved in the community and making the legal system better,” Schumm says.

Carmichael would be just the third female justice in state history – out of 110 justices. She’s also an elected Democrat, while Holcomb is a Republican. But Schumm says when it comes to judges, those political ideologies rarely play a role.

“I think everyone approaches cases pretty much the same way. It just happens in some counties that people are one party or another,” Schumm says.

Schumm says none of the three candidates will likely shift the court in any ideological direction.