When close friends of former Missouri Governors Mel Carnahan and Bob Holden heard that Missouri Appeals Court Judge Nannette Baker was a finalist for the state’s highest court, they said she is not “Democrat enough.” It was Carnahan who put her on the bench, and Holden who promoted her to her current Eastern District gig. When Judge Michael Calvin was appointed to the 22nd circuit court by then-Republican Governor John Ashcroft, everyone wondered when did Judge Calvin become an arch-conservative? Never.
The bulk of Baker’s adult career placed her in an objective role as a journalist. Her 13 appellate colleagues thought enough of her to vote her in as deputy chief judge during the term that expires in 2008. Reportedly she met Carnahan, not through Democratic politics, but at a social gathering. If even this flimsy connection between Baker and Carnahan makes Blunt and company cringe and pass over Baker – the only African-American on the panel to replace the state’s only-ever black Supreme Court justice, Ronnie White – than Blunt can kiss good-bye any of those center-right black voters who sided in the 2004 election with U.S. Senator Christopher “Kit” Bond against Jay Nixon. An important component of African-American support was Bond’s pledge to support White for the federal bench – a promise Bond subsequently broke
On the other hand, Blunt and Ed Martin could say they empowered Missouri’s first-ever African-American female Supreme Court justice, who also happens to be a fair and brilliant jurist.
There is evidence that they have been building up a resume of African-American appointments since White’s resignation from the high court – building up a smoke screen and an alibi for if/when they replace White with yet another Supreme Court justice who is white. Check out all of the black folks they have appointed in the brief time since White stepped down and vacated a seat on the high bench: Judge Brian Wimes, 16th Judicial Circuit; Angel McCormick-Franks, director of the Office of Supplier and Workforce Diversity; Reynaldo Anderson, Missouri Council on the Arts; Don Johnson, Conservation Commission; Capt. Ron Johnson and Capt. Ken Gregory, Peace Officer Standards & Training Commission; Attorney Wayman F. Smith III, Harris-Stowe State University Board of Regents; Joshua Travis, Dana Hardy and Claudette Scott, Missouri Community Service Commission; and Michael Yarbrough, Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, not to mention hiring Gentry Trotter as special assistant and communications advisor.
Those are a lot of black folks getting recognized and hooked up by Blunt and Martin, and the EYE sincerely hopes they do some good for Missouri and black folks in particular in their new positions. But add them all up and you don’t get the power of one single seat on the state Supreme Court. Pass over Baker, and none of the above counts for much.