Gov. Phil Scott made two appointments to the Vermont Supreme Court, naming one former top federal prosecutor and another currently serving in that role for Vermont to fill the open spots on the state’s high court.
Scott, a Republican, announced in a press release Monday the appointments of Christina Nolan, who served as U.S. Attorney for Vermont from 2017 to 2021 during the first President Donald Trump administration, and Michael Drescher, who served as the acting U.S. Attorney for Vermont, in Trump’s second administration.
Nolan and Drescher fill vacancies on the five-member Vermont Supreme Court following Justice William Cohen’s retirement late last year and Justice Karen Carroll’s retirement a few months earlier. The appointments require the confirmation of the state Senate.
“These appointments are important to maintain the trust of Vermonters in a fair and independent legal system,” Scott said in the release. “Christina and Michael both demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to public service, the rule of law, justice and will be great additions to the Court.”
Nolan, of Burlington, has worked in private practice for law firm Sheehey Furlong and Behm following her stint as U.S. Attorney for Vermont. She ran an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2022, losing in the Republican primary.
Nolan had joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont in 2010, and she was later unanimously confirmed for the top post in the office by the U.S. Senate in 2017.
“This is an opportunity like no other to continue to make a positive difference in the lives of Vermonters and to uphold the rule of the law and the Constitution,” Nolan said in the release. “I am humbled by the Governor’s confidence in me and by this new opportunity to serve the state I call home.”
Drescher, of Hinesburg, has worked as a federal prosecutor in Vermont for more than two decades, taking over as the top federal prosecutor in the state last year after Trump took office. Drescher held the role first as the acting U.S. Attorney for Vermont.
Late last year, after he served the maximum amount of time allowed by law in that acting role, his title changed to First Assistant U.S. Attorney, though he insisted he was still in charge of overseeing the office in Vermont.
It’s unclear why Trump did not put forth Drescher’s name for confirmation to the U.S. Senate for the role of U.S. Attorney for Vermont on a permanent basis. The U.S. Department of Justice website currently lists the U.S. Attorney for Vermont post as vacant.
In his role as the top federal prosecutor in Vermont, Drescher has taken the lead in enforcing many of the policies in Vermont of the U.S. Justice Department under Trump, from immigration enforcement to filing federal charges that carry the death penalty for the first time in cases in the state in years.
“I have spent the last 30 years working with and appearing before Vermont judges in state and federal courts,” Drescher said in the release Monday announcing his appointment to the Vermont Supreme Court.
“Drawing on that experience,” Drescher added, “I pledge to help lead a court system in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect, justice is administered fairly and efficiently, and individual rights are protected.”
Scott said in the release that the names of both Nolan and Drescher were forwarded to him on a list of candidates deemed well-qualified by the Judicial Nominating Board.
