Rare judicial election is a costly one.Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard E l e c t i o n 2 0 0 6 The race for a seat on the Lane County Circuit Court has become probably the most expensive ever for a state trial court - and the local legal community, and even the candidates, are wondering whether the high cost might signal the end of local judicial elections altogether. Six of the 15 current Lane County Circuit Court judges are older than the minimum retirement age of 60 and another will be soon. With such a potentially large turnover, they believe that political appointments will continue to be the rule for judicial selection in Lane County. When judges retire before the end of their six-year terms, the governor fills the position and the appointee APPOINTEE. A person who is appointed or selected for a particular purpose; as the appointee under a power, is the person who is to receive the benefit of the trust or power. must run in the next election. Incumbents are nearly always unopposed. Most judges retire early for personal reasons, and the governor fills their position. Circuit Judge Bryan Hodges' decision to retire at the end of his term this year created this election, the first in Lane County in 14 years. Alan Leiman, 44, and Debra Vogt, 37, have collectively spent more than $242,000 so far in their primary and general election campaigns. Leiman has spent $175,000 to date, compared to Vogt's $67,000 expenditure, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. state election records. Leiman, an assistant Eugene Municipal Court judge, has no contribution from anyone other than his family and himself, according to records. He says there can be no appearance of any conflict of interest in his campaign financing, and the expenditures are necessary to overcome Vogt's name recognition and her endorsements by nine current and former Circuit Court judges. Vogt, who has numerous small contributors along with $32,000 of her own money, says she never dreamed the campaign would become such a money pit. Vogt says the judges who support her hope their endorsements are an antidote to big money in the judicial race. Ultimately, the campaign comes down to the candidates' qualifications. The code of judicial conduct A collection of rules governing the conduct of judges while they serve in their professional capacity. The Code of Judicial Conduct was formulated by the American Bar Association (ABA) in 1972. bans candidates from discussing issues that may create the impression they are biased in any way. Judges take an oath to remain open-minded and to treat all parties fairly while following the law and determining the facts of each case individually. Lane County's 15 Circuit Court judges handle 34,000 cases annually - the majority being criminal and family law cases. Of the total, about 7,000 are civil lawsuits; about 1,000 are probate probate (prō`bāt), in law, the certification by a court that a will is valid. Probate, which is governed by various statutes in the several states of the United States, is required before the will can take effect. cases and 1,400 are juvenile matters. Leiman's campaign focuses on the breadth of his legal background, and his work in alternative dispute resolution Procedures for settling disputes by means other than litigation; e.g., by Arbitration, mediation, or minitrials. Such procedures, which are usually less costly and more expeditious than litigation, are increasingly being used in commercial and labor disputes, Divorce and crime prevention. He has worked as a prosecutor, defense lawyer, civil litigator lit·i·gate v. lit·i·gat·ed, lit·i·gat·ing, lit·i·gates v.tr. To contest in legal proceedings. v.intr. To engage in legal proceedings. and judge during a 14-year legal career. Additionally, Leiman volunteers in Teen Court, a peer court for low-level first-offenders. He also is on the board of directors of Community Mediation Services, and volunteers in a program that works with first-time drunken drivers to prevent repeat offenses. He recently edged ahead of Vogt in a poll of local lawyers, garnering 51 percent of the 258 votes cast. In the primary election, Vogt got 44 percent of votes in the lawyers' poll, while Leiman received 33 percent among four candidates. Leiman attributes the win to support among lawyers who became aware of his qualifications and conducted an e-mail campaign before the recent bar poll. He says he did not solicit the support. "That is what is so gratifying grat·i·fy tr.v. grat·i·fied, grat·i·fy·ing, grat·i·fies 1. To please or satisfy: His achievement gratified his father. See Synonyms at please. 2. about the bar poll," Leiman says. Vogt's campaign focuses on her daily trial work as a senior prosecutor for the past decade in Lane County; her work with the Child Advocacy Child advocacy refers to a range of individuals, professionals and advocacy organizations who promote the optimal development of children. An individual or organization engaging in advocacy typically seeks to protect children’s rights which may be abridged or abused in a Center helping young crime victims; and her work with the Eugene Active 20-30 civic group on projects for needy children. Vogt handles the community's most violent offenders and child molesters. Her reputation as a hard worker and a quick study earned her endorsements from numerous local law enforcement groups, nine current and former Circuit Court judges, plus defense lawyers and civil attorneys. Vogt says voters should consider the judges' endorsements as the most significant. "The judges know the job better than anyone because they are doing it every day," Vogt says. "They care about the quality of the next person on the bench." Vogt wonders whether the unexpectedly high cost of the campaign will mean fewer races in the future. Leiman says he would support some form of judicial campaign finance reform Campaign finance reform is the common term for the political effort in the United States to change the involvement of money in politics, primarily in political campaigns. . Incumbent judges running for reelection re·e·lect also re-e·lect tr.v. re·e·lect·ed, re·e·lect·ing, re·e·lects To elect again. re in Lane County have not been opposed by a challenger in recent memory for a number of reasons: running a campaign disrupts a lawyer's private practice; and a judge's pay is comparatively low for a competent lawyer. At $95,800 annually, Oregon's pay ranks 49th among states. Add to those factors a spiraling cost for running a campaign, and the chances of contested elections in the future fade even more, says Jim Chaney, an unsuccessful candidate in the primary for the judicial post. Chaney says he researched state records to find this to be the most expensive race since records were posted on the Internet in 1992. It's doubtful any before that were as costly, he says. "It was 14 years (since Lane County's last contested election). Given the amount of money spent on this one, it's going to be a lot longer before you see it again," Chaney says. "To me, it's almost guaranteed." DEBRA VOGT Personal: Age 37, married, three children Education: Southern Oregon This article is about the southern region of the U.S. state of Oregon. For the University, see Southern Oregon University. Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. State College, 1987-88; Oregon State University Oregon State University, at Corvallis; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1858 as Corvallis College, opened 1865. In 1868 it was designated Oregon's land-grant agricultural college and was taken over completely by the state in 1885. BA, 1991; Willamette University Willamette’s College of Liberal Arts is the undergraduate school on campus. The oldest of the graduate programs is the College of Law, founded in 1883 and located in the Truman Wesley Collins Legal Center. law degree, 1994 Work experience: Senior prosecutor, Lane County District Attorney's Office Civic experience: Eugene Active 20-30 Club, past president; chairwoman for numerous projects for children's charity fund-raisers; Child Advocacy Center, board member; instructs police academy courses on investigation More information: www.vogtforjudge.org ALAN LEIMAN Personal: Age 44, married, one child Education: Wesleyan University Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn.; coeducational; chartered and opened 1831. There are special cooperative study programs with the California Institute of Technology and the engineering department of Columbia Univ. BA 1985; University of Miami This article is about the university in Coral Gables, Florida. For the university in Oxford, Ohio, see Miami University. The University of Miami (also known as Miami of Florida,[2] UM,[3] or just The U law degree, 1992 Work experience: Assistant Eugene Municipal Court judge since 2002; Eugene city prosecutor, 1999-2002; private practice 1998-2002; former assistant public defender public defender, governmental official who represents indigent persons accused of crime. U.S. Supreme Court decisions expanding the right to counsel to pretrial proceedings and holding that a person cannot be sentenced to even one day in jail unless a lawyer was ; trained mediator Civic experience: Volunteer Teen Court judge; Lane County Victim Impact Panel speaker; Community Mediation Services board member More information: www.alanleiman.com |
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