By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – Governor Matt Blunt's office is raising more questions about the selection process for Supreme Court nominees.
His top lawyer wrote to Supreme Court Chief Justice Laura Stith today (Tuesday), saying the judicial panel did not provide him with complete applications of the three finalists for the job.
Last week Blunt's office asked the Appellate Judicial Commission for detailed information on how it selected the finalists, including interview transcripts and questions asked.
The commission replied that the process is confidential and it could only provide the nominees' applications and a general overview of the process.
Blunt's office says that paperwork is missing pages for some, including a list of cases tried and a summary of one's judicial philosophy.
The Commission chose Nannette Baker, Patricia Breckenridge, and Ronald Holliger as finalists.
Baker serves on the state appeals court in St. Louis; Breckenridge and Holliger both serve on the state appeal court in Kansas City.
Baker, 49, of St. Louis, was appointed as a circuit judge in November 1999 by Democratic Gov. Mel Carnahan and elevated to the appeals court in November 2004 by Democratic Gov. Bob Holden. She got her law degree from Saint Louis University in 1994.
Breckenridge, 53, of Nevada, Mo., was appointed as an associate circuit judge in January 1982 by Republican Gov. Kit Bond and appointed to the appeals court in December 1990 by Republican Gov. John Ashcroft. She got her law degree in 1977 from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Holliger, 61, of Blue Springs, was appointed by Carnahan as a circuit judge in 1995 and as an appeals court judge in January 2000. He received his law degree in 1973 from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.