Ashvegas commenter: Correcting the record on judgeship races

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Loyal reader Gina corrects my errors on a recent post about electing judges in Buncombe County. I’ve made the corrections in the original post, but thought I’d post her comment here, as she makes some good general points about electing judges. As a sideline note, the Raleigh News & Observer has a recent story about former U.S. Supreme Court Judge Sandra Day O’Conner’s recent talk in Raleigh, where she urged a move away from electing judges.

Here’s Gina:

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 www.judgepope.com.

Sincerely,

Gina Drew, GinaDrew.Com

Member, The Committee to Elect Judge Marvin Pope Superior Court