No reason to unseat an incumbant judge

Published Thursday, October 23, 2008

I urge voters to be sure to cast a ballot for the incumbent judges who are being challenged in the Nov. 4 elections.

I know Supreme Court Justices Paul Anderson Lorie Gildea and Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Terri Stonebumer personally.

Each has an election contest this year and each needs the support of voters.

There is no reason to unseat these incumbent judges. They are excellent judges. I spent 12 years as a state-wide member of the Minnesota statutory Judicial Selection Commission and I remain a Minnesota Supreme Court appointee to that Commission for the 10-county Seventh Judicial District which stretches from Moorhead and Detroit Lakes at the northwest end down to St. Cloud and Little Falls at the southeast end.

Based on that experience, I know the care with which the Commission considered applicants for the judicial positions which these three judges initially applied for and that the Commission's nomination of them to the Governor for appointment was carefully thought out.

Their service since appointment has confirmed the correctness of their appointment and there is no reason why challengers who have not gone through this thoughtful selection process should be put into office in the forthcoming general election to replace them.

It is difficult for incumbent judges to campaign against challengers who have all kinds of time to devote to the campaign. The incumbent judges are heavily burdened with work on a daily basis and hard pressed to meet the costs and time demands of the campaign.

They cannot and should not prejudge particular kinds of cases which might come before them by expressing, during election campaigns, their views on various issues which their challengers usually are campaigning on.

They need to maintain their objectivity and neutrality to deal with such cases if and when the case actually comes to them and not have to >announce in advance how they are likely to decide a particular kind of case before it has been properly presented for decision.

Please be sure to cast a ballot for these good judges on Nov. 4. Look for the word "incumbent" after the candidate's name on the ballot and vote for that one.

Richard Pemberton - Fergus Falls