No clear front-runner for Supreme Court seat

INDIANAPOLIS | The two women with current region ties seeking a seat on the Indiana Supreme Court appear to have as good a chance as any of the 34 justice candidates.

Lake Superior Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura and Clare Kraegel Nuechterlein, an assistant professor at Valparaiso University School of Law, will be interviewed Wednesday by the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission.

A review of their applicant files by The Times found the women come to the process with significant achievements in law and highly recommended by their peers.

Bonaventura, who turned 56 on Monday, was born in East Chicago and lives in Dyer. She attended Indiana University Northwest in Gary for one year, but earned her bachelor's degree in psychology from Marian University in Indianapolis in 1977. She earned her law degree at Northern Illinois University in 1981.

Since 1993, Bonaventura has served as juvenile court judge in Lake County. She was a juvenile court magistrate from 1982-93. 

In her application, Bonaventura tells the committee one of her most significant achievements as a judge was in 1996, when she mandated the Lake County Board of Commissioners build a new juvenile courthouse and detention center. At the time, juvenile court was held in the Superior Court building in Gary.

"The situation was volatile, without decorum or security," Bonaventura said. "Adults in shackles sat next to abused children, next to disgruntled parents, next to attorneys trying to conference with clients."

After several lawsuits, a new $23 million facility eventually was built on 93rd Avenue in Crown Point.

Nuechterlein, 60, was born in Rochester, N.Y., and now lives in South Bend. She earned her bachelor's, master's and law degrees at Valparaiso University, where she now teaches.

Teaching is an important aspect of who she is, Nuechterlein explains in her application.

"As both professor and mentor, I am presented daily with opportunities to assist students in reaching their personal and professional goals and becoming contributing members of the legal profession," Nuechterlein said.

After graduating from college, Nuechterlein taught seventh-grade language arts in Valparaiso Community Schools for four years. Following law school, she worked as the city attorney in Goshen and for the U.S. Department of Education before spending 12 years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Calif. She returned to Valparaiso to teach at the law school in 2002.

Letters, applications, writing samples and files of all 34 justice candidates will be reviewed by the seven-member Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission, headed by Chief Justice Randall Shepard. The commission is expected to select several semi-finalists by the end of the week for a second interview on July 30. 

In August, the commission is expected to recommend three candidates to Gov. Mitch Daniels, who will choose the new justice for the five-member Indiana Supreme Court.

The vacancy on the Supreme Court is being created by the upcoming retirement of Justice Theodore Boehm.

Other justice candidates also have region ties.

Indiana Solicitor General Thomas M. Fisher, 41, was born in Rensselaer.

Geoffrey G. Slaughter, an Indianapolis attorney, was born in Gary in 1962 and was co-valedictorian at Crown Point High School in 1981. He lived in Lake County until 2002 while working at a Chicago law firm.

Sean M. Clapp, of Fishers, was born in Gary in 1962 and earned a bachelor's degree in political science at Valparaiso University in 1985.

Lyle R. Hardman, of Granger, lived in Porter County between 1991 and 2001 while working as an attorney at Eichhorn and Eichhorn in Hammond.

Two other candidates lived in the region while attending law school at Valparaiso University. They are Allen County Judge Frances C. Gull, class of 1983, and Christine M. Marcuccilli, now of Fort Wayne, class of 1995.