Editorial Questions Judicial Nomination of Motley Rice Lawyer
A Rhode Island trial lawyer nominated for a federal judgeship merits more scrutiny, an editorial asserts.
Jack McConnell of Motley Rice was recommended by Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, the Wall Street Journal says in the editorial. Whitehouse is a former Rhode Island attorney general who hired McConnell on behalf of the state to sue companies that manufactured lead paint.
“It happens that the Rhode Island lead paint suits ultimately failed,” the editorial says. “Last July, after nine years of litigation, the state supreme court threw out the jury verdict against the companies. But it looks as though Senator Whitehouse has found another way to pay Mr. McConnell for his services.”
The Providence Journal reports that McConnell is a major donor to the Democratic Party.
