Dear Editor,
I met Tim Healy when he was first running for Superior Court Judge
this past spring. Ron and I were both impressed with Tim’s honesty and
work ethic. We were encouraged by his hard work to promote justice in
the court system. During the primary election we allow all candidates
to place signs on our property but during the general election we invite
people to post
signs. We asked Tim to post signs but some candidates just put them up
without permission.
When considering candidates for Judge, I believe we want the person
with the most courtroom experience practicing the law, and the person we
can trust will have qualities we believe are important for a Judge to
have. Like: honesty, integrity, commitment to ensure every person who
comes to court is treated with dignity and respect. I believe that
person is Tim Healy.
Tim is the
only candidate for Department 2 who: has practiced law in the courtroom
in the past 15 years; has EVER practiced criminal law in Court; has
taught law school; or, has dedicated his professional career to public
safety, victim’s rights and seeking justice for everyone.
Some hay has been made about the appointment process for Judges.
I’ve learned a little bit lately about how judges are appointed. Let me
share with you some of what I’ve learned.
First,
Gov. Brown appointed Tim’s opponent, not
the Judicial Nominee Evaluation Commission (JNE). While the JNE
commission might be non-partisan, even Judge Mewhinney agrees, during an
interview with the Enterprise, that any appointment from Gov. Brown is
going to be political because he rarely appoints anyone from (any other
political) party.
In
fact, one of the first questions for every Judicial applicant is: what
political party affiliations have you had during your life? This is
hardly a non-partisan question.
Tim
did not seek Gov. Brown’s
appointment because his wife was very sick with Leukemia and not
expected to survive. Tim believed it was more important for him to
focus on his family than to seek a political appointment.
Finally, every single one of the 5 applicants who sought to replace
Judge Mewhinney were found "qualified" - no one gets to know their
rating past the initial "qualified". A Governor can even appoint an
applicant who receives an ‘unqualified’ rating by the JNE commission.
He doesn’t have to appoint the person with the highest rating; so much
for their non-partisan recommendations. Getting the job by being
selected by a Governor could not be any more political. It is my
opinion that had Tim’s wife not
been ill, he would have applied and he would have also been found
qualified.
It seems to me that Tim’s opponent believes he is more qualified
because he received a political appointment by a Democratic Governor. I
do not share this belief. Courtroom experience practicing law and a
dedication to justice are the best qualities for our next judge to have
and should be the most import reasons to select our next Judge.
Please join me in voting for Tim Healy for our next Judge in Department
2.
Regards,
Joanne Snyder Randall
Retired Teacher
