Christina Nolan and Michael Drescher. Photos courtesy of the Office of Gov. Phil Scott “I’d like to take the opportunity to tell you a little bit about how the gun got in my bag,” Christina Nolan, a prospective Vermont Supreme Court justice and former top federal prosecutor in the state, t old the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.  The committee was hearing from Gov. Phil Scott’s most recent two nominees to the Vermont Supreme Court, as their appointments require Senate confirmation.  Nolan explained herself after Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, asked her about an email he received about “a firearm in a courthouse security system,” an incident that made headlines in August.  Nolan said it started when she was an assistant U.S. attorney. Someone she prosecuted began threatening to torture and kill her family, she said, so she bought a gun.  A few times, Nolan and her wife heard knocks on their door that spooked them. And one night while Nolan was upstairs, her partner yelled for her and said that someone was knocking again. She took out her gun and went downstairs, Nolan said, and when she went to get the door, the person was gone.  Maybe a classic game of ding dong ditch? Nolan didn’t think so — she was armed and ready. She must have brought her gun upstairs and put it in her bag, she said.  “The bag that I was carrying was like a Mary Poppins bag,” Nolan said, bottomless and full of stuff.  When she walked into a courthouse in Windham County the next morning, security guards found the gun in her bag, she said. State law bans firearms and other deadly weapons from courthouses. But Nolan said it was a mistake. “I try my darndest not to make the same mistake twice,” she said.  Instead of being charged with a crime, Nolan partook in a pre-charge diversion program and a gun safety course, she said. “I’m a rule follower,” she assured senators.  Besides accidentally toting a gun, Nolan reminded senators that she prosecuted the notorious EB-5 scandal at Jay Peak resort in the mid-2010s and played a major role in a federal prosecutors’ $8 billion legal settlement with Purdue Pharma in 2020.  Nolan also assured the committee that she thinks the court should uphold the rule of law and act as a bulwark against government oversight, especially executive action.   Scott’s other nominee, Michael Drescher, last week resigned as Vermont’s top federal prosecutor, he told the committee. Though he and Nolan served under President Donald Trump — and Nolan ran for the U.S. Senate as a Republican in 2022 — both emphasized that the court should be apolitical.  The candidates need Senate confirmation to serve as justices. Baruth said that as the bench feels more politicized under Trump’s administration, he will encourage the chamber to maintain “evenhandedness” when considering the nominees.  — Charlotte Oliver In the know Nikhil Goyal, an adjunct assistant professor of sociology at the University of Vermont and former policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on Monday announced he’s running for state Senate in the Chittenden Central district. The district, Vermont’s most urban and diverse, is currently represented by Pro Tem Baruth, a Democrat/Progressive; Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, a Progressive/Democrat; and Democratic Sen. Martine Gulick. Goyal, an author, says he’s seeking both the Democratic and Progressive nominations.  — Ethan Weinstein Lawmakers may seek to expand penalties for animal cruelty in light of recent abuse cases. Rep. Emilie Krasnow, D-South Burlington, is sponsoring H.578 and kicked off an afternoon of testimony on the bill in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill, which is tentatively scheduled for a committee vote this week, would expand the definition of sexual conduct with an animal, make certain discretionary penalties mandatory and make it easier for the state or welfare organizations to receive money from defendants to pay for the care of abused animals. “How we treat animals reflects who we are as a community,” Krasnow told the committee.  — Ethan Weinstein Hot topics In a packed House Corrections and Institutions Committee, Rep. Will Greer, D-Bennington, fanned himself with a sheet of paper and asked Rep. Brian Minier, D-South Burlington, to turn down the heat. Must be all the people in the room, Greer said.  Minier didn’t even touch the thermostat, saying it didn’t work anyway.   “Some politician you are, Brian,” Greer said, implying a good one would’ve lied.  — Charlotte Oliver Read the story on VTDigger here: Final Reading: Christina Nolan, Vermont Supreme Court hopeful, explains why she brought a gun to court. ...read more read less