The Nation - News from July 4, 1986

A family court judge who was a longtime power in the Rhode Island House was chosen to replace state Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph A. Bevilacqua, who resigned to end an impeachment inquiry against him. Thomas F. Fay, 45, of Lincoln, one of six nominees, received a majority on the first ballot during a joint session of the General Assembly. Bevilacqua, 67, who had held the state’s top judicial post for 10 years, had been the target of a legislative investigation into his acknowledged ties to reputed mobsters, suspected adulterous affairs and alleged misuse of court employees and court contractors.