Jeffeson County Kentucky Family Court races draw stampede of lawyers
EST November 3, 2014Two candidates competing for the same seat on the Family Court bench begin each conversation with an unusual plug: They insist the other would make for a fine judge.
Candidates Tara Hagerty and Stuart Scherer s reciprocal praise is indicative of the generally good natured tone among a stampede of lawyers vying for six seats on the Family Court bench.
Six of 10 Family Court judges are retiring at the end of the year, marking the most dramatic overhaul on the bench in its 24 year history. The dozen lawyers running to replace them for the $125,000 a year job say the loss of a century of institutional knowledge could prove dipatagonia outlet store santa cruz0sastrous for the court or it could be an opportunity for a new generation of judges to reinvigorate the way the city deals with families in crisis.
Division 1: Former Prosecutor Angela Johnson came out ahead in the primary, claiming nearly 40 percent of the vote, followed by Lauren Adams Ogden with 24 percent.
A Louisville native, Johnson, 36, litigated her first mock trial at 14. She worked as a prosecutor, where she learned the gravity of making life altering decisions, she said. Jpatagonia camp reviewsohnson, who is black, said she hopes to bring diversity to the bench, now comprised of all white judges. Jefferson County is just over 70 percent white and 23 percent black.
Ogden, 38, describes herself as the trusted, known qdiscount patagonia women's fleeceuantity. She s practiced family law for 13 years and she understands the law and the system, she said. She also pointed to her community service, cooking meals for the needypatagonia alpine guide pants rei and mentoring pregnant teens, as proof of her dedication to Louisville families.
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Division 3: This race pits a retired judge againstpatagonia outlet store santa cruz a longtime family lawyer.
Deborah Deweespatagonia outlet store santa cruz1e, 55, was a Jefferson County District Court judge from 1993 to 2007 and has since worked as a senior status judge, filling in for jurists throughout the state. If elected, she will collect her $110,0patagonia lake reviews00 pension and her salary, for a total of more than $200,000, a practice critics deride as patagonia outlet store santa cruz3 double dipping.
But Deweese, endorsed by Citizens for Better Judges, refutes that characterization. Many people collect a pension and continue working, she said, and she s not in it for the money. She said she thinks she still has something to contribute.
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She said the exodus from the bench means experience is paramount, and hers is unmatched: she has sat on the Family Court bench as a senior status judge. She said that gives her the judicial insight necessary to fill the gap and she believes her colleagues agree: In a poll conducted by the Louisville Bar Association, 56 percent of lawyers found patagonia outlet store washingtonher qualified or highly qualified for the job, higher than any other candidate running for Family Court.
Her competitor, Ellie Garcia Kerstetter, 54, is making her second bid for public office, after running unsuccessfully for district court in 2010.
Kerstetter, endopatagonia argentina map new yorkrsed by The Courier Journal, is campaigning on her 14 years with a dedicated family court practice, along with her personal experience with families in crisis. Kerstetter, who if elected would become the first Hispanic judge on the bench, was a teepatagonia discount code kohl's 30%nage mother and a survivor of domestic violence. Her own life has handed her a passion for family, she said.
Division 5: Candidates Tara Hagerty and Stuart Scherer maintain each other is a fine candidate, and voters couldn t go wrong either way.
Hagerty, 47, said she s been preparing to be a Family Court judge for two decades. She worked as a lawyer for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, then helped the Jefferson County Circuit Clerk build the domestic violence intake center as a one stop shop for victims seeking protective orders. She racked up endorsements in the race, including Citizens for Better Judges and the Courier Journal.
Scherer, 45, says that as a private family law attorney for 15 years, he has litigated all varieties of cases that can come before the court. He pledged to prioritize using technology to streamline the system, and try to empower people to work out their differences via mediation to avert them away from the clogged courtpatagonia outlet store santa cruz2 system.
Division 6: Former Prosecutor A. Christine Ward claimed nearly 49 percent of the primary vote, followed by Stephanie Morgan White with 19 percent.
Ward, 45, has been a prosecutor and trial commissioner, and there learned to make high risk decisions that change people spatagonia guide jacket zip lives and alter public safety, she said. Now in private practice, she has steered families through divorces, domestic violence and child abuse. Ward ran unsuccessfully for District Court in 2010.
Morgan White, 44, believes she s the better candidate because she has practiced almost exclusively in patagonia guide pants up dontFamily Court for 17 years. She wrote a book about private adoptions in Kentucky, and she believes her knowledge of family court will help her cut down on the months long delays pervasive on the bench.
Division 7: Denise Brown, a former prosecutor and civil rights lawyer, claimed 46 percent of the votes in the primary, followed by attorney Dennis Burke at 23 percent.
