Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Just catching up on the Election 2010 candidate filings, and there’s some interesting changes when it comes to local judgeships.
First up, I see that longtime Chief District Court Judge Gary Cash did not file for re-election. He’s well-respected around town. Julie Mattheissen Kepple, most recently an assistant district attorney in Buncombe County, is running unopposed for Cash’s seat.
That’s too bad, because I would have liked to see Kepple answer more questions about her time working as an attorney for former Buncombe County Sheriff Bobby Medford. The sheriff is sitting in a federal prison after being convicted on corruption charges related to his involvement in illegal gambling. I sat in on much of Medford’s federal trial, and listened intently as Kepple was called to testify. She essentially maintained that she didn’t know anything about Medford’s shady dealings.
The other hot race for judge will be the challenge to District Superior Court Judge Alan Thornburg. Local attorney District Court Judge Marvin Pope is running against Thornburg, but the new and surprising challenge will come from Buncombe County Assistant District Attorney Kate Dreher. She has served at the right hand of District Attorney Ron Moore for years, and is apparently ready to break out. Described by Rolling Stone magazine as a “fierce little biscuit” in a story about Asheville being Freak City USA, it’s a description that I think still holds. No one wants to get on the bad side of Dreher. She’ll be formidable.
In other local races for District Court judge, Judge Shirley Brown faces a challenge from John Jay Watson; and Judge Patricia Kaufmann Young will face a challenge from Rhonda Moorefield. I don’t know enough about these folks to comment.
Finally, speaking of District Attorney Ron Moore — the Democrat will face a general election challenge from Republican Bridgette Odom.
Goldstein and McDonald are running against Pope. Dreher is running against Thornburg. It's on my ballot.
Rhonda Moorfield is Bill Mcdowell’s former Legal Secretary. She decided to get her law degree when Bill Retired. I can tell you this….she’s no Bill McDowell, thats for sure. I can say from personal experience with her that she lacks the experience to be a good lawyer. I can’t imagine her as a Judge.
You’ve made several errors relative to the Buncombe County Superior Court race in this post.
First, Judge Marvin Pope is a seated District Court Judge who has held that position for a decade and has twice been re-elected to that position. He has twice the years of legal experience of Judge Thornburg and ten times the experience on the Buncombe County bench. Judge Pope practiced law in Buncombe County for 28 years before becoming a District Court Judge.
Second, Judge Alan Thornburg is a Superior Court Judge. He was appointed by Gov. Easley to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of the Hon. Ronald C. Payne, who held that seat for many, many years. Judge Thornburg has only been on the Superior Court for a year now, but, while I’m not sure that disrespect is the correct word, I’m quite certain Judge Thornburg would have a better appreciation for a correctly labeled title.
Third, while Kate Dreher is quite the hot tamale, she is a prosecutor and has spent her entire legal career putting people in jail. She is formidable, but I’m not so sure her experience lends her towards being a the best judge. Ms. Dreher has no judicial experience, and while she has longer tenure as a lawyer than Judge Thornburg, it is not nearly so long as that held by Judge Pope, and she lacks the varied experience of either of the other two seated judicial candidates, having only practiced in the very narrow field of criminal prosecution. In my opinion, she is by far the least desirable judicial candidate and is the only one that has received accurate press in this forum.
One of the major issues we have in judicial campaigns is that these candidates do not receive the same kind of press that partisan candidates receive. Yet, the judicial election process is one of the most important, and least understood, votes cast by members of our communities. It is judges that protect us from the bad laws – and uphold the good ones – made by those other elected officials. In fact, it is judges who are the protectors of our national and state Constitutions, and the first protection offered to individuals finding themselves embroiled in any kind of a conflict, be it criminal or civil. Justice, and the access to it, are amongst the most important of liberties promised to us by the forefathers of this great nation and we should all consider it – and report it – as such.
I would like to see your site run a comparison of all the judicial candidates – for all the seats available – running for election/re-election in Buncombe County. I think it is incumbent upon the media to ensure that these matters are reported correctly and fairly and that they get the appropriate kind of press to help the citizens of Buncombe County make the best decisions for the best possible judiciary in Western North Carolina.
If you would like accurate and complete information about Judge Pope, his experience and his candidacy, please visit his website at http://www.judgepope.com.
Sincerely,
Gina Drew, GinaDrew.Com
Member, The Committee to Elect Judge Marvin Pope Superior Court
I see the biggest issue in the 30th being that two very experienced and respected judges are retiring (Judge Danny Davis and Judge Steven Bryant). Both of those seats are up for grabs. The 3rd seat is currently occupied by Judge Vanhook. She was appointed to the seat by the governor and her seat is being contested. I’m new to the profession, but from what I gather, this sort of scenario doesn’t occur very often in our area.
A lot of young lawyers are going after these seats and their experience, or lack thereof, is going to be an issue.
Judge Bryant currently has a message forum where some of the candidates are being discussed if you’re interested. http://bit.ly/cKNA6M
Thanks Sean. I’ve corrected.
Ricky, what makes that 30th judicial district race hot? I saw that the Smoky Mountain News had a something about it, but I haven’t read it.
It’s Bridgette "Odom", Ash.
The 30th judicial district, which covers Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Macon, Clay, Cherokee, and Graham counties, also has quite the district court judge’s race going on.