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Professional Experience
I have been an attorney for 34 years.
Public Service
I have worked serving our community as an Assistant Public Defender and as a Senior Attorney for Child Welfare Legal Services (DCF). I currently volunteer at Brevard County Legal Aid, and I serve on the Eckerd Connects Advisory Council. I have also served on the Board of Directors of Make-A-Wish, the Women's Center, and Brevard County Legal Aid.
Education
Merritt Island Christian School, 1985; Cumberland College, 1989; University of Kentucky College of Law, 1992
Campaign Phone
3213901798
Campaign Mailing Address
5425 Village Drive, Suite 105, Rockledge, Florida 32955
I believe the greatest obstacles to justice are activist judges who legislate from the bench. When a judge imposes his will on the people instead of following the law as written by the legislature, it creates an imbalance in the three separate, co-equal branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. These three co-equal branches of government are the bedrock of our democratic system of government. This judicial activism leads to rulings that treat similarly situated people differently.
First, I believe that public defenders are some of the best attorneys in our legal system. However, I don’t think there is much that can be done about understaffed government offices by the judiciary. In some situations, judges may appoint private counsel to represent indigent people charged with crimes who are facing imprisonment. As a former assistant public defender, I have first-hand experience working with thousands of poor people charged with very serious crimes.
In elementary school, my son was singled out by a teacher because he corrected the teacher’s wrong answer to a question she asked. The teacher made him stand facing a wall with his nose touching the wall. I found out about it when my son got home from school and told me. I took a few deep, calming breaths, let some time pass, and then I reached out to the teacher directly regarding the issue. I could not change the past for my son as much as I would have liked to change it, but I did ensure that the teacher knew this was not acceptable conduct for a person in a position of authority over a child.
I worked as an assistant public defender for about six years. I have tried over twenty-five jury trials to verdict. In one of my jury trials, l represented a man accused of burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery and two counts of aggravated battery. My client had a lengthy criminal history so if he was found guilty, he would have been designated as an habitual felony offender and prison releasee reoffender. The jury acquitted him on all counts. I have tried hundreds of non-jury trials. I have tried dependency cases, termination of parental rights cases, evictions, landlord-tenant cases, injunctions, and family law cases.
Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137. Chief Justice John Marshall wrote the opinion that created judicial review. The Supreme Court ruled that Congress does not have the authority to pass a law that violates the United States Constitution. The decision prohibits judicial activism by prohibiting courts to make any decision that is beyond the courts’ Constitutional or statutory grant of authority. It also provides a check and balance to the other two branches of government: legislative and executive.
The Case Management Conference and the Pre-Trial Conference are new types of judicial docket management procedures. During these conferences, attorneys, clients, and the court discuss what is needed to bring the case to resolution through trial or settlement. Discovery deadlines are set; mediation deadlines are set; and trial is scheduled. I would suggest setting these conferences earlier in the process. Currently, these conferences are not triggered until a party files a Notice for Trial. By setting these conferences earlier, cases would not linger in the court system for years and parties could move forward with their lives.
My philosophy of the judicial role is: a judge should be independent not be an extension of the legislature or executive branch. Judges should follow the law, not create the law. Knowledge, experience, leadership, and the wisdom that comes from those qualities, are the key components to being a good judge. From my perspective, the greatest challenge to being a judge is ensuring judicial independence while encouraging public confidence in our legal system. The law must be applied by all judges as it is written because all people are entitled to equal justice and should not be subject to the whims of the judge he/she was randomly assigned.
