Judicial Endorsements
I have received several requests for my judicial endorsements. I have previously expressed my high regard for Alan Schneider and reiterate that here with this endorsement:
Office 117: Alan Schneider.
This is a clear and obvious choice. I have known Alan for some time now. We both work in the Hardcore Gang Division of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office, where Alan has worked for years. It may sound odd for me to quote the L.A. Times, but their description of Alan is right on the mark:
Office No. 117: Alan Schneider. Deputy Dist. Atty. Schneider is the easy standout in this four-candidate field, in large part due to his reputation as one of the most capable prosecutors in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. Schneider is a master of the courtroom, having tried 40 homicide cases in his 15-year career. The best prosecutors don’t automatically make the best judges, but defense lawyers who have faced off against Schneider also praise him for his integrity, fairness and demeanor. Some voters may pick prosecutors in judicial races because they’re expected to be “tough on crime,” and others may reject them for fear they’ll be unfair to defendants. But the reason to pick the good prosecutors — and Schneider is one of the best — is that they understand the mechanics, as well as the principles, of justice. They understand how to make a courtroom work fairly as well as efficiently.
If you care about the local bar’s ratings, he has been rated well qualified.
There are two other Deputy District Attorneys running, and I know only one of them: Valerie Salkin. I have been overburdened with work in recent months and haven’t studied her competition, but she was in my training class and I worked with her in the Compton Branch Office. She is smart and hard-working, and I have no doubt that she would do well if she is elected. She has been rated qualified by the local bar association.
As it happens, my ballot was already marked for both these candidates.
For the most part, if I don’t have any other information, I just vote against whoever lists being endorsed by the LA Times or the police unions. Close enough for government work.
GaryS (8351a3) — 6/7/2010 @ 8:48 amThanks.
Belial (a24ff8) — 6/7/2010 @ 9:28 amNot timely. Already voted absentee, and my vote was absent on all those offices, absent advice that I respected.
Personally, I believe that all judicial candidates should be a Yes/No choice, even when running with opposition. But of course, their fragile little ego’s would shrink from letting the voters have such a voice.
AD - RtR/OS! (f11dd4) — 6/7/2010 @ 9:41 amWell, AD – RtR/OS!, I did advocate voting for Alan Schneider a while back.
Patterico (c218bd) — 6/7/2010 @ 8:38 pmI’m doing the research right now on the various candidates, trying to mark my absentee ballot which I guess I’ll have to drop off at the polling place tomorrow. I have come across a few websites that are moderately helpful:
Metropolitan News-Enterprise: these guys make endorsements but, more importantly, have brief interviews and biographies of each candidate which in some cases includes unflattering revelations. I’m ignoring their endorsements and focusing on the bios.
Examiner.com has a listing of the various candidates qualification ratings from the LA County Bar Association.
Hey, I am not having problems with cache or cookies any longer, but my comments no longer preview below as I am typing them. I’m running Firefox 3.6.3 on Windows NT.
JVW (36eb17) — 6/8/2010 @ 12:00 am