Judge weighs in on importance of judicial races

Judge weighs in on importance of judicial races

in March,” he said. “That being said, I am not writing about any elections but judicial elections, because the judiciary is what I know and care deeply about. I hope that as you approach these elections that you will take the time to learn about the candidates; to ask about their experience in working with the law in real life and not just reading about the law in a book; to find out what experience they had in a courtroom fighting for their clients; and find out what you can about their integrity, what it is that makes them honorable and trustworthy people and worthy to be called judge.”

Fogleman expressed that foremost, the people have confidence in the integrity of the justice system and its leaders.

“When the public loses this confidence in the fairness of our system,” he said. “Disputes are not resolved in a civilized manner, and in extreme examples we have seen riots in the streets. On Jan.

14, 2016, recently retired Chief Justice Jim Hannah

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of the Arkansas Supreme Court died. In every speech I heard him give he stated: ‘Our ability to function successfully as a court and a judicial branch is totally dependent upon the public's trust and confidence in the court system.’” Fogleman said Chief Justice Hannah was not alone in this belief.

“Chief Justice John Roberts of the United States Supreme Court has stated: ‘The importance of public confidence in the integrity of judges stems from the place of the judiciary in the government. The judiciary's authority therefore depends in large measure

on the public’s

willingness to respect and follow its decisions,’” he said.

“You might ask yourself, ‘Does it really matter that much who my judge is?,” said Fogleman. “Ask that question to anyone who has served as a juror or a parent who has gone through a child custody battle in court.”