Gov. John deJongh Jr. nominated attorneys Adam Christian and Harold Willocks to the Virgin Islands Superior Court bench on Friday.
Christian, deJongh’s chief legal counsel, will replace retiring Associate Judge Leon Kendall; Willocks, the current chief territorial public defender, will fill the vacancy left by the death of Judge Francis d’Eramo earlier this year.
In his announcement, deJongh said judges wield considerable power over the course of long terms of service, dealing with multitudes of issues that cannot be known in advance.
"But one thing is knowable," deJongh said, "that the primary duty of a judge is to seek and administer justice: To apply the law equally and fairly and impartially no matter who is before the court, rich or poor, black or white, powerful, or not. In order to do this, and to do it well there are two essential qualities that are absolutely required: intelligence and character."
Describing Adam Christian as a talented and well-educated native son who returned to build his career, his future, and raise his family in the Virgin Islands, deJongh said, “Adam Christian has shown me his intelligence, his common sense, his sense of right and wrong, and his commitment to the Virgin Islands.”
DeJongh said he knew Christian was a top candidate for the bench when he hired him.
“I almost did not appoint him because I so very much value his counsel, his legal opinions, his policy perspectives and his good sense," deJongh said. "He has certainly set a high standard for all others to meet. But the interests of the broader community will be well-served by his service as a Judge.”
Willocks has served as chief public defender in the Virgin Islands since 1992 and was a public defender in that office prior to that. DeJongh said this experience has given Willocks insight both into the criminal justice system and into the territory’s criminals.
"Trial judges do not live in ivory towers surrounded only by papers and briefs and memoranda of law," deJongh said. "(T)hey live in the real world and they must understand the real world. Harold Willocks is a man who understands the real world.”
DeJongh added, "Both of these nominees bring the trial experience and legal understanding necessary to these important positions. In this I must say that protecting our community from the suffering that has been caused by crime must come first.”
