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San Diego fundies trying to pack area courts
cross-posted at DKos
There's an effort underway by a group of San Diego-area fundies to stage a coup by ballot in, of all places, the county Superior Court. A group of conservative attorneys say they are on a mission from God to unseat four California judges in a rare challenge that is turning a traditionally snooze-button election into what both sides call a battle for the integrity of U.S. courts. Vowing to be God's ambassadors on the bench, the four San Diego Superior Court candidates are backed by pastors, gun enthusiasts, and opponents of abortion and same-sex marriages. "We believe our country is under assault and needs Christian values," said Craig Candelore, a family law attorney who is one of the group's candidates. "Unfortunately, God has called upon us to do this only with the judiciary." The four fundie candidates are backed by an organization called "Better Courts Now." Its Website looks innocuous enough, but in reality, this is a textbook stealth campaign to get hard-right judicial activists (oops, that's "sound jurisprudence" in Freeperspeak) on the San Diego bench. |
Better Courts Now was founded by Don Hamer, the late pastor of Zion Christian Fellowship in San Diego. You may remember him as the voice of seven videos back in 2008 that claimed Obama wasn't really a Christian (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7), including one in which he accused Obama of being a Muslim. Hamer personally vetted all four candidates before he died in March. One of Hamer's colleagues, Brian Hendry, has continued the drive, and has lined up support from other fundie churches as well as anti-gun control activists. Visiting Better Courts Now's Website, you'd think it was just a nonpartisan effort to get better judges. But the four candidates make no bones about their real intent--and it's giving the four incumbents pause. Lantz Lewis, who has been a judge for 20 years, said his opponent's campaign is taking judicial elections in the wrong direction. "I have no problem with elections, but I think it really should focus on a judge's qualifications, and it's very difficult to think something good could come out of a partisan judicial election," he said. Better Courts Now recently tried to organize a debate between the four incumbents and the challengers--but the incumbents turned it down. Lewis said "Better Courts Now" appears to be seeking allegiance to its views — not accountability. "That's one of the reasons, we declined the invitation to go to that forum," he said. "I just don't think judges should be in a situation, where they are asked, 'Do you believe in God, abortion, gay marriage?'" If judges proclaim to be either liberals or conservatives, people will feel the decks are either stacked against them or in their favor. If only one parent goes to church and the other does not in a child custody battle, a judge proclaimed to be a conservative Christian may favor the churchgoer, he said. Something else to think about--three of the incumbents are considered "well qualified" by the San Diego County Bar Association, the highest grade possible. The same group gave three of the challengers its lowest rating, "lacking qualifications." And this is in a county which, until recently, was one of the reddest urbanized counties in the nation. The frightening thing is that Better Courts Now might actually be able to pull this off if not derailed in time. Judicial elections in San Diego historically go under the radar. That's why this story is probably the worst news Better Courts Now could possibly get. Now their real agenda, and their twisted definition of "accountability," is out for all to see. : Just found out that the election isn't going to be in November, but will coincide with the primary election on June 8. Time to get moving ... |
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