[sgtyork]

mag·is·trate [maj-uh-streyt, -strit] noun 1.a civil officer charged with the administration of the law. 2.a minor judicial officer, as a justice of the peace or the JUDGE of a police court, having jurisdiction to try minor criminal cases and to conduct preliminary examinations of persons charged with serious crimes. Zimmerman’s father, a former magistrate judge, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/george-zimmerman-lost-job-party-security-guard-aggressive-ex-co-worker-article-1.1053223 Robert Zimmerman is a Vietnam vet, as well as a former judge from Fairfax, Virginia. Read more: http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/local/033012_Zimmerman%27s_father_defends_his_son#ixzz1qrHs6Sj7 I'll bet that his status as a former judge would appear on a police background check.

[101stAirborneVet]

I'm not sure what your point was with that stream-of-consciousness rant, but my statement stands.

Someone stated that Zimmerman's father was a "judge", and that it was for this reason that Zimmerman "escaped punishment". The inference was that as a judge, Zimmerman's father held an office within the judicial system that included some power or esteem; this is an inaccurate depiction. A magistrate is not the same as a "judge" in Virginia, in the way the poster was relating.

Reciting a dictionary entry which has several definitions for magistrate, one of which is "JUDGE", as you so eloquently CAPSed at me, does not mean he was a "judge" as was inferred by the poster and was intended to convey a certain meaning.

I draw your attention to the Code of Virginia, § 19.2-37. Magistrates; eligibility for appointment; restrictions on activities:

B. Every person appointed as a magistrate on and after July 1, 2008, shall be required to have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education. A person initially appointed as a magistrate prior to July 1, 2008, who continues in office without a break in service is not required to have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of higher education.

So, you see, Magistrates in Virginia are not even required to have a law degree or be attorneys and, during the period Zimmerman's father was a magistrate were not required to have a degree at all.

Virginia law does indeed include "magistrates" within the definition of "judges" generally, however my point was that Zimmerman's father held a lesser position than what was being inferred - a position of no particular esteem or power within the judicial system, and certainly not a "judge" who would have some sway over another state's law enforcement system.

Magistrates, I could say, are a "dime a dozen" in Virginia. Accordingly, Zimmerman's father could not have had any undue influence on any prosecution of his son in Florida by virtue of his having been a magistrate in Virginia.

The characterization later in your post, Zimmerman’s father, a former magistrate judge, I take no issue with, as it specifies magistrate judge, and does not lead the reader to an erroneous conclusion.