Teno’s Wise Choices

After many months of meticulous deliberations, Governor Pedro P. Tenorio has finally announced his nominations for the vacancies in the judicial branch. Superior Court Judge John Manglona has been nominated to the Supreme Court, and private attorney Eric Smith has been nominated to the Superior court.

Governor Tenorio should indeed be commended for his excellent choices. As far as the CNMI is concerned, the governor could not have rendered a wiser decision, given the field of candidates available at this time.

Now that Governor Tenorio–again, after very diligent consideration–has finally submitted his choices, I call upon the entire CNMI Senate to promptly approve the nominations. In particular, I hope that the Saipan delegation will have no objections to offer, given the importance of the courts and the dire necessity of permanently filling the current vacancies with these two highly qualified judicial candidates.

Governor Tenorio no doubt consulted with Senator Pete P. Reyes, Senator Kumoi and Senator Kiyu prior to making his judicial nominations. The governor no doubt consulted with the entire CNMI Senate, as well as the CNMI Bar Association, other attorneys, and members of the general public. Indeed, there can be no doubt that the decision was very carefully considered–from all aspects, and only after hearing all views–in terms of the best interests of the CNMI.

But while Governor Tenorio no doubt considered his decision very thoroughly, some members of our community may not be particularly familiar with the history and background of Mr. Eric Smith, the nominee to the Superior Court. So in order to alleviate the “outsider” concern, a few points are in order.

Eric Smith is a long-time CNMI resident. He has been here for well over a decade, at least since 1984, well before the CNMI economy really took off. I hasten to add that Mr.
Smith came here as an attorney, to practice law and do business. He did not arrive as a dubious member of the Peace Corps. (In fact, Mr. Smith was an officer, a Lieutenant Commander, in the United States Navy and served in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan.)

While practicing law in the CNMI, Mr. Smith worked in the CNMI Attorney General’s Office, where he was initially assigned to assist the delegates of the Second Constitutional Convention in 1985. He was also assigned to the civil division of the AG’s Office, where he eventually became its chief. Throughout his entire CNMI legal career, in both public and private practice alike, Mr. Smith was responsible for defending the CNMI government against various lawsuits–including lawsuits from the Federal government.

For all practical purposes, the CNMI is home to Mr. Smith and his wife, Rhoda. Both of Mr. Smith’s late parents are buried in Saipan. Mr. Smith is essentially one of us.

I look forward to the Senate’s swift confirmation of Mr. Smith and Mr. Manglona–Governor Tenorio’s two wise choices for the courts.