Posted on 11/14/2006 12:56:21 PM PST by neverdem
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY Voters removed a 3rd District judge who reduced the sentence of a sex offender and also caught the wrath of deer hunters and gun owners for an anti-hunting diatribe from the bench.
In Salt Lake, Tooele and Summit counties, 54 percent of voters Tuesday said Judge Leslie Lewis should not be retained, a rare defeat for a sitting jurist.
Lewis, a judge since 1991, was out of town and unavailable for comment, court spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said Wednesday.
I just dont like the way this one was done, said Greg Skordas, one of 40 lawyers who bought a newspaper ad supporting Lewis. I felt it was underhanded.
Judicial elections rarely get headlines, but Lewis found herself in the crosshairs of opponents, who set up a Web site that showed her berating a man in an illegal hunting case. She also sent the mans brother to a holding cell when he left the courtroom in a huff.
Separately, a week before the election, an attorney said Lewis had reduced the sentence of his client, a sex offender, to 20 years from 30 years and repeatedly discouraged him from telling prosecutors.
Salt Lake County prosecutors filed a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Commission. Attorney General Mark Shurtleff has asked an appeals court to reverse the reduced sentence.
We helped make some of Utahs deer hunters and gun owners aware of the fact that she was expressing extreme prejudice against a lawful activity that many of them engage in, said N.W. Clayton, spokesman for a group called Gun Owners of Utah.
While the case involved poaching, which is illegal, Lewis said she was prejudiced against people who kill deer and recused herself.
Have you ever actually looked at a deer when theyre alive? Lewis asked Michael Jacobson during the February hearing.
To fill Lewis seat, a 3rd District nominating commission will recommend five candidates to Gov. Jon Huntsman. He will pick one and send the nomination to the Senate.
Little did we know Bambi has more everlasting effect than F/911...
I always wonder about idiots who say things like this. If the planet was devastated by a plague and it was me or the deer for food, do you think this judge would choose to shoot me?
LOL! I like my venison with a nice Zinfandel.
It's not sporting to shoot them when they are already dead. Easier to track, but not sporting.
No, I hunt with my eyes closed.
<< "Have you ever actually looked at a deer when theyre alive?" Lewis asked . . . >>
When did "a deer" become plural -- or "they are" become singular?
(I'd have voted to recall her for her inability to communicate in English!)
"Who, but the hopelessly ignorant, wouldn't agree with that."
How about those who don't want to act like a liberal. Murder is murder.
The plural of deer is deer.
I agree with your statement that most here in Florida are hopelessly ignorant.
I also voted against retention of them all. And I did and do want to stone them all in a public square.
Honest, lots of idiots here. They've come from all over the country. Hardly any are from here but there sure are a lot of stupids that have moved in here.
LOL!!!
IMO, it is at the least unseemly for lawyers to place an ad regrading a judge before whom they will practice law. Darned close to a bribe, but even if it isn't a bribe, it seems unethical.
Then you can FOAD Greggy boy.
Well Your Honor, one of my rules of thumb is that when I'm in a court room and a judge starts asking me rhetorical questions, I never say the first thing that pops into my head.
It was completely above board. The voters were educated about a loony tunes judge and had the opportunity to express their desire to remove her from the bench. The lawyers are disappointed in losing a nutball who could reliably deliver stupid judgments that fit their desires and scummy clients.
A few more rounds of airing the dirty judicial laundry are in order to help the citizens clear the bench of nutballs in black robes. It doesn't happen often enough. Most judges quietly return to the bench without any public notice of bad decisions.
BUT the original quote is:
<< "Have you ever actually looked at a deer when theyre alive?" . . . >> <
.... Whose author's tortured use of the language demands we either accept "they are" as being singular or "a deer" as being plural.
Hence my somewhat despairing - if overwrought - question. <
(As if the tyranny of PC was not bad enough on its own merit, it has to also be permitted to render our beautiful English Language as virtually meaningless as is every other!)
I went to a Thai restaurant for lunch in West Palm Beach. The whining customers sounded like transplants from New York. Fortunately, I was only in town for a business trip.
That's a vote that's wasted. I never vote for a judge whose name is the only one that's offered. Never dem is the alternative that I always use.
LOL! Something to dance for a change!
Part of that is true.
Here in Indy we had retention of judges on the ballot. And while I'm sure there was some sort of write-up in the Star about them, I missed it with all the other election drivel they ran. So, even though I didn't know a thing about them; based upon the judicial activism we've seen (nationally) in the past; I voted NOT to retain them.
They were probably retained. Our ballots, optical scanner SAT type, had a straight party ticket option, and then you could vote for an opposing party for specific offices if desired, but it was two sided. Judges were a separate thing altogether on the back. I suppose that a lot of folks, especially the elderly, only chose to vote a straight party ticket, and didn't bother to look on the back (I think all ballots options should all be on the same side of the paper). So I would guess that a no vote would be a vote to retain. Quite sneaky if you ask me. The option should be a binary yea, or nay.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.