Professional Experience
Florida licensed attorney, Florida licensed Professional Engineer
Education
BSEE, MSEE, PhDEE, JD Law
Campaign Phone
321-693-6750
Campaign Mailing Address
PO Box 73, Melbourne, FL, 32902
The greatest obstacle to justice is maintaining the public confidence that the judiciary will consistently deliver fair and equal justice, despite the challenges of cost court, access delay, complexity, and unequal resources.
One of the most difficult experiences in my life was watching a loved one be treated unfairly. Feeling frustrated and upset was a natural reaction, but I knew those emotions would not help resolve the situation. Instead I focused on learning the facts and addressing the issues that truly mattered the experience also taught me to distinguish between what I believed was important and what others believed was important. Staying calm, exercising patience, listening carefully and remaining impartial, went a long way toward reaching a resolution.
My judicial philosophy is simple. A judges duty is to faithfully apply the law as written, protect the US and Florida Constitutions, treat every person fairly equally, and with respect. A judge should never legislate from the bench or allow personal opinions to influence their decisions. The qualities most important for a judge are integrity, impartiality, humility, patience, sound judgment, and the courage to make decisions based solely on the law and the facts.
The greatest challenge of the role in my opinion is maintaining the public confidence that the judiciary will deliver consistent, fair, and equal justice, despite the challenges of access, cost, delay, access, complexity, and unequal resources.
Everyone is entitled to effective representation regardless of financial circumstances. A judge has a responsibility and a duty to ensure that a defendant has a meaningful opportunity to be heard, and that their constitutional rights are protected. A judge should assume nothing, remain attentive, allow reasonable accommodations and enforce standards of equality, and ensure the proceedings are fair to all parties at all times. The judges goal is to safeguard the integrity of the process and the constitutional rights of every litigant..
My practice has focused on civil litigation, where the overwhelming majority of cases are resolved before trial through negotiation, mediation or other means that best serve the client’s interest. Although I have not tried a case to verdict, I have extensive experience, analyzing complex, legal issues, managing litigation, advocating for clients and preparing every case, as though it would proceed to trial. Those experiences have reinforced the qualities I believe are most
Important in a judge: integrity, impartiality, commitment to applying the law.
There are many the one in particular that stands out to me is the case that established the doctrine of desperate impact, recognizing that facially neutral policies can still be discriminatory because of their facts rather than their purpose. That case was Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
One reason Griigs interests me is that it dealt with practices that on the surface were neutral with no proven intent but still concluded to be wrong, like smoke hiding a fire.
Without a doubt, the most effective improvements to court procedures and efficiency have come through the thoughtful adoption of technology. Going forward courts should continue to embrace technology not only to streamline procedures, but also to analyze objective data. Identify bottleneck measure performance and focus, improve improvement effort efforts, where they will have the greatest impact.. the challenge is to continually improve efficiency without ever compromising, fairness and partiality or due process. Technology should enhanced the administration of justice, not replace the careful judgment and deliberation that each case deserves
Professional Experience
Trial lawyer (Public Defender and private practice)(1991 - 2014); General Magistrate (2014 - 2018); Circuit Judge (2018 - present)
Public Service
Office of the Public Defender (1993 - 1996); General Magistrate (2014 - 2018); Circuit Judge (2018 - present)
Education
George Washington University, BA (1988); Vermont Law School, JD (1991)
Campaign Phone
321-520-2896
Campaign Mailing Address
PO Box 410022, Melbourne, FL 32941
Having an attorney is often out of reach, financially, for many litigants. While there are mechanisms for the appointment of counsel in most criminal matters, those same opportunities are unavailable in virtually all civil cases. Without proper representation, the court is left to make decisions having a stilted view of the facts or lacking all of the information that would permit a truly informed decision.
I had a roommate in college that was a very difficult person to get along with. His behavior and attitude regularly frustrated and angered me. Sadly, rather than confronting him, I chose to avoid the problem altogether which did nothing toward resolving the conflict. I have since learned that effective communication is the key to resolving most problems. As a judge, it is critical to always keep in mind the anxiety and frustration created by a lawsuit or court appearance and not punish petty infractions (cell phone going off in court, for example), but rather address them in a perfunctory and professional manner that resolves the problem without inflaming it further.
At its heart, the judicial role is largely one of customer service. While it is critical to engage all parties fairly, impartially, and kindly, it is more important that parties feel that they have been treated that way. It is easy to say that you will be patient and neutral, but it is another thing entirely to put yourself in the place of a party and understand what they need to feel as though they have been heard. Beyond that, an effective judge must follow the law and not be distracted by public sentiment, attention, or emotion.
The most effective way to address this problem is through active case management and adherence to a strict schedule that does not permit cases to languish on the docket. We are very fortunate, though, in the 18th Judicial Circuit to have the benefit of highly skilled Assistant Public Defenders and Assistant State Attorneys who all understand the importance of moving cases in the interest of justice.
I tried my first jury trial, probably, in 1993 -- 33 years ago. Since then, I have been the lead attorney in several hundred trials (jury and non-jury). At the Office of the Public Defender (1993 - 1996), I represented clients in at least 1 or 2 jury trials per month. In private practice (1996 - 2014), I found myself in non-jury trials, about once per month.
To be honest, I don't have a favorite Supreme Court case, nor do I regard one as of greater importance than all others. Having said that, in some of my appellate work, I have turned to Troxel v. Granville, 530 US 57 (2000) which basically stands for the proposition that the right to parent one's own children is a fundamental right protected by the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.
I have personally implemented new case management procedures in the family division that have cut in half the time it takes to get a case to trial. This is a work in progress, and I hope to reduce that time further. I have enacted other provisions that have largely unified the practice and procedures in all of the courtrooms in the division.
