Providence Journal, Feb. 2, 2026, by Katie Mulvaney
PROVIDENCE – State court judges in Rhode Island hold lifetime seats, with salaries considered generous by many. They often see people in their lowest moments, anxious about their encounter with the justice system.
They weigh and decide matters involving families, businesses, contract issues, land use, unions and individuals, among myriad other matters of great importance to the parties involved.
Those seeking to become judges go through several rounds of vetting that are open to the public, and where members of the public can weigh in on their candidacy.
However, the Judicial Nominating Commission, which helps vet candidates, has imposed a new rule that members of the public interested in speaking at those public hearings must now sign up two weeks in advance, or they won’t be allowed to speak.
Organization prevented from speaking during judge vetting
That’s what happened to Jocelyn Foye, executive director of The Womxn Project, a nonprofit organization created in 2017 to advance reproductive rights, the right to gender-affirming care, LGBTQ+ rights, and health care access for all.
The organization contacted the JNC on Jan. 22, she said, about signing up for Foye to speak at the hearing six days later in opposition to Stephen R. Archambault’s candidacy for two Superior Court seats. The organization’s opposition was based on his position on abortion rights as a Democratic state senator.
That’s when they learned about a JNC rule cited on the meeting’s agenda that speakers must sign up two weeks earlier, though they can submit written comments as late as 24 hours before a meeting.
“I did not get to be a witness,” said Foye, who intended to voice concerns about what she characterized as Archambault’s conservative record, particularly with regard to abortion rights.
ACLU speaks out
The state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union wrote JNC Chairwoman Krystle G. Tadesse on Jan. 28, the day of the meeting, with concerns that the informal policy is stifling the public’s voice.
“The ACLU of Rhode Island has long had an interest in the strengthening of public access to government meetings and encouraging the widest reasonable opportunities for the public to participate in those meetings. We are not aware of any other state or local public body that, like the Commission, has a vested interest in receiving public comment that has established such a restrictive policy regarding advance notice,” Executive Director Steven Brown wrote.
He questioned what the rationale was for imposing such a lengthy advance notice requirement.
“It can only impede the Commission from receiving all the public comment it should be interested in obtaining when considering the weighty matter of recommending judicial nominees,” Brown wrote.
While Brown said he understood the need for an orderly public comment process, a “complete bar on speaking for individuals who missed this strict deadline strikes us as inappropriate.”
When was this rule imposed?
When asked, Tadesse emphasized to The Journal that the rule has been in place since 2022, and that since it was imposed, the volunteer commission had considered candidates for 12 judgeships, including 18 applicants the night in question. She noted that the meeting notice and agenda, which detailed the deadline, was posted in compliance with the Open Meetings Act on Dec. 30, 2025.
“I understand the frustration from people who missed the Jan. 14 deadline to sign up to provide public comment at the JNC’s Jan. 28 meeting,” Tadesse wrote to the ACLU.
“Public comment is essential to the JNC’s process, and we welcome and encourage public participation, including written public comment. I have served as chair of the JNC since February 2021. During my tenure, there has been minimal public interest and attendance at JNC meetings. … I have been heartened to see that change in the last eight months. I sincerely hope that public awareness, attention, and education around the judicial vetting and nomination process in Rhode Island continue to grow,” she said.
Archambault disputes criticism
Archambault, who was known for his occasionally explosive temperament as a state lawmaker, is a candidate for the Superior Court seats vacated by the retirements of Judges Melanie Wilk Thunberg and Stephen Nugent. The JNC will question the contenders on Feb. 4 and 11 and send lists of three to five of the individuals to Gov. Dan McKee.
Archambault disputed characterizations by Foye and others, and noted that he ultimately supported a law ensuring abortion access in Rhode Island.
“Whether or not there should be issue litmus tests for the selection of Rhode Island judges is a decision for the Judicial Nominating Commission,” Archambault said in a statement. “The plain facts, however, are that as a state senator, I was an active supporter of marriage equality and voted for it and I believe in a woman’ right to choose, supported the codification of the protections of Roe v. Wade into state law, testified in favor of the final version of the legislation in front of the Health Committee, and voted for it on the floor.”
‘ They’ve made it known that this was going to happen’
Foye had hoped to voice concerns about the stance Archambault, who represented Smithfield, Johnston and North Providence as a Democrat from 2013 through 2022, took on the Reproductive Health Care Act, the legislative effort to guarantee the right to abortion under Rhode Island law.
Archambault, she said, had been integral in attempts to block its passage.
“Archambault is suppressing bodily freedom through restrictions on all life saving health care, including abortion,” Foye said. She faulted Archambault, a former police officer who unsuccessfully ran for attorney general, for prioritizing conservative policies.
“Sen. Archambault proved time and time again that there was a certain category of person in Rhode Island who rules and laws did not apply. … Why do we believe he would change?” Foye said.
The Womxn Project also opposed the candidacy of former Senate Majority Leader Michael J. McCaffrey for a District Court seat.
Foye questioned the process, in which state senators overwhelmingly embrace their former colleagues for lifetime judgeships. The Senate Committee of the Judiciary forwarded McCaffrey’s nomination by McKee on to the full Senate Jan. 28 after showering him with praise.
The Womxn Project members did not show up at the Jan. 28 Senate Judiciary meeting, she said, because they had received word that McCaffrey was a done deal for the District Court post.
“Why would our people show up when they’ve made it known that this was going to happen? We want Rhode Island to have three separate branches of government that are really separate,” Foye said.
“We should call it the Senate-to-judiciary runway,” she quipped.
