Judicial SUPREME COURT
POSITION 7 Bill Riggs There are five candidates in this race, but we quickly narrowed our choices down to a guiding philosophy: Anybody But Tiernan. The former legislator who easily has the best name familiarity in this race, Tiernan is a one-man wrecking ball who is running for the Supreme Court more out of spleen (he was furious when the court ruled unconstitutional one of his ballot initiatives) than any real desire to sit on the bench. A ferret could run for this office and get our endorsement over this Torquemada. Fortunately, voters have others options. There are at least two highly qualified candidates for this election, which is being held to replace the departing Susan Graber (Graber was named to the federal bench earlier this year). One is Jim Westwood, an appellate lawyer who works for Miller Nash. We're impressed by Westwood's intelligence and passion for the intricacies of appellate law. We admire his work for the Court Appointed Special Advocates program, in which he argues in the courtroom on his own time for the interests of children. We're also impressed by his work on the Campaign for Equal Justice, which raises money to provide legal services for poor Oregonians. But our nod goes to Bill Riggs, whose 10 years on the Multnomah County Circuit Court and another 10 on the state Court of Appeals carries a breadth of experience that is unmatched. He sometimes comes off as pompous, although those who know him best say he's hard-working and collegial. He's by all accounts a decent fellow with a surprising, roll-up-the-shirtsleeves humanity about him. And his commitment to the have-nots will provide an important counterbalance to the two most senior judges, Chief Justice Wally Carson and Justice Mick Gillette, who have forged a conservative coalition. Jim Rice, a Lane County public defender, touts himself as being the most interesting candidate on the bench. "I'm a paratrooper who ran the Portland Poetry Festival, I'm a married man with children who works with the Cascade AIDS Project," he told WW. He's probably right when he says he's the most creative candidate in the pack. All those traits would serve him well on the bench, but we think the Supreme Court is a bit of a reach. Victor Hoffer, a paramedic with a tiny law practice and a huge chip on his shoulder, cites his experience out in the streets working with real people as a qualification for Supreme Court Justice. He may be the state's best paramedic, as he claims, but he certainly isn't qualified for the job he's seeking.
APPEALS COURT JUDGE
POSITION 6 Ed Warren In 1980, Ed Warren did what some lawyers seem to believe is unthinkable: He ran against an incumbent judge. Warren wound up winning the Court of Appeals seat after Judge JasonLee died mid-race, and since then he has held the post through two unopposed elections. Now Warren is facing what he jokingly calls "the curse of Jason Lee's seat." Not only does he have an opponent--Janice Jackson--but he also endured heart surgery a few weeks before the election. Warren, 63, says he's feeling fine physically, and he probably doesn't have to worry about his job, either. He has been a Court of Appeals judge for 18 years and, in terms of experience, is light years ahead of Jackson, who passed the bar in 1976 but hasn't spent much time in the courtroom since then. Until 1993, Jackson taught law courses for the business school at Portland State University. Cutbacks related to Measure 5 forced her to give up her teaching job and move into private practice in Beaverton. She calls herself a general practitioner without any big-name clients; some call her a "mystery" candidate because her work has been so low-profile. We're mystified by why she's running in the first place, and she didn't provide us with many well-thought-out or specific answers as to what she'd add to the bench. The Court of Appeals resides in a sort of high-volume netherworld, reviewing literally thousands of cases a year that have been appealed from lower courts. Although it is the court of last resort for 98 percent of the cases appealed in Oregon, its work goes mostly unnoticed by the outside world. Warren is a perfect fit for such a bench. He has a reputation for rolling up his sleeves and cranking out solid opinions quickly, which is exactly what's needed on the Appeals Court. He describes himself as a "blue-collar judge" and is regarded as conscientious and cooperative. "I love my job," he told WW. "I'm good at it and I have a lot more to give." We agree.
CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE
POSITION 37 Jan Wyers Let this race be a lesson: Be careful what you ask for. Last term, Republican state legislators agreed to create a new slot on the Multnomah County Circuit Court under one condition: The new judge would have to be elected. Normally, when a judicial vacancy occurs, the governor weeds through a batch of qualified applicants and selects the best. Republicans, who haven't controlled the governor's office since 1987, figured they'd have a good shot at a conservative jurist via an election. What they got instead are three equally lousy choices. There's Mary Overgaard, a career government lawyer with a mean streak; Jan Wyers, an unimpressive former legislator with a knee-jerk liberal MO; and Alexander Hamalian, who passed the bar about two hours ago (OK, it was really two years ago) and at times seemed incapable of shutting up during our endorsement interview. Initially, we were leaning toward Overgaard, mostly because of Wyers' record. As a state senator from 1977 to 1989, his liberal politics were predictable, never thoughtful. Even supporters say Wyers is no legal giant. He didn't help his cause during our endorsement interview, which featured all three candidates. He showed up late with no apologies, then told us that he wanted to become a judge because it's less work than being in private practice. Wyers did make a convincing case that after 22 years as a lawyer who has spent much of his career in family court, he knows the laws he'd be asked to apply as judge. Still, we thought this would be a slam dunk for Overgaard, who was strong and persuasive during our endorsement interview. Then we made some calls. Overgaard has spent the past two years in a temporary but full-time position on the circuit court bench handling mostly misdemeanors. Before that, she was a government lawyer working for the city attorney's office and for the Bureau of Labor and Industries. According to a number of those who have appeared before her, Overgaard isn't merely predisposed toward the prosecution--which isn't all that unusual on the bench--she's seen as "draconian" by defense lawyers, who also provided examples of cases in which Overgaard seemed baffled by the law. |
