Michael Morris – In Focus

I have to tell you that I was so entirely underwhelmed by the list of applicants for the job of placeholder District Judge to fill the remaining term of the retiring Frank Wilson that the prospect of tying a tie and walking up a flight of stairs to watch an uninspiring local commission component do exactly as I expected, the easy thing, proved too great. The news of the predictable came in a text message from a friend. In sending Bill Brogan, Mario Torrez and our perennial favorite Sandra Grisham to our even better friend Bill Richardson the commission gave the Governor a wide range of options ranging from the right thing to something hopeful of the use of petroleum products first. Let’s have a look, shall we?

OK, now why was this the easy thing to do? Kirby is too young. Singh is widely perceived as one who wants to be known as a judge rather than being concerned with the job OF judge. Anecdotal evidence supporting this is widely found in the records of the Magistrate Court where she served the remaining term of a vacant seat there just a few years back. The attorney members of the commission saw her in action and declined to offer the governor the chance to pull that prank again.

For the right thing the commission offers former Alamogordo City Attorney Bill Brogan. Brogan is the elder statesmanlike candidate and the only apparent non-controversial contender in the race from the date applications closed. Brogan is not a polarizing agent in the way the others are. Of the 3 Bill Brogan actually contributes more to the political process than the other 2.

The appointment of Brogan might just be good for the Governor’s party. With the wide rift running through the Republican party as a direct result of a smashingly hilarious hijack of the Otero County Republican Party by Richardson allies in Spaceport Biscuits appointing a stable judge would allow the Dems to perhaps gain back some ground and turnout in the mid-terms by taking the time to cultivate a candidate for the partisan election for the seat in 2010 instead of gambling on a loose cannon for the sake of an office in the (D) column for 2 years.

For the DPNM Mario Torrez represents what could be described as betting it all to win. In essence Bill Richardson gets the opportunity to appoint the presumptive Dem nominee for the judge job on the 2010 ballot by appointing Torrez. Now the question turns to whether the Dems want to lock in this guy as their candidate. The question of his electability in 2010 against whomever the current majority party places on the ballot comes into play. Is Mario Torrez the candidate the Democrats want to put on the ballot in 2010? If so do so. Making the wrong choice could place the office out of reach for decades as few judges ever fail in a retention election.

This brings us to the one candidate who actually did lose a retention election which amounts to a “Should we keep her around?” vote. Unless Bill Richardson has given up any further political aspirations he will abandon any thought of the ecstasy of foisting Sandra Grisham back on this Republican weakhold. As tempting as it may be for the governor to stick it to us he might want to consult Michael Dukakis before latching on to his own Willie Horton. If Richardson even cracks this file open Tommy Jewell should never speak to him again. In the audio of this motions hearing (WMA) listen to this fertile tree bursting with succulent sound bites abundant on every branch as Grisham argues that most any action against a child by a parent that does not require a cast or casket is protected parental privilege under NM law (citing State v. LeFevre (PDF) hand squeezing case). There are better clips for the politicos to work with, but that one will work for now.

That clip also goes to integrity, but, after you watch the sentencing in that case (WMV), you realize the judge finally figured out that Sandra Grisham had none. On the point of her temperament and competence in the law you just have to listen to her argument with Judge James Waylon Counts after the sentencing (WMA). The gist of her argument is that even though the judge had issued a finding that he did not have jurisdiction to sentence the child as an adult and sentenced the child as a child that he 180/90/something the findings and split the sentence juvi/adult which any competent lawyer knows is not allowed. Angry, bitter and broken may seem like the ideal candidate to a capricious Chief Executive, but he might want to consider his role as porter of the baggage this appointment would load on the next bandwagon. Maybe asking Dukakis might not be such a good idea as pulling a “Sandra Grisham” on someone might have the legs to replace pulling a “Willie Horton” as the term for that manner of campaign.

I could be completely wrong. Maybe Grisham is the one for the job. As polarizing as this candidate remains as a result of her misconduct/incompetence that resulted in the 12th District’s laundry being aired on national TV as she defined NM as the place to move if you feel the need to routinely slap, kick, squeeze with pliers or take a hay hook to your kids without fear of intervention she just might be an ideal icon for its governor. He does claim to be an innovator though, so maybe this works for him somehow.

It was the easy way out. Bill Brogan had no strikes under the criteria. Grisham works with the local lawyers on the commission. Mario Torrez offers the Governor a party loyalist. This was going through the motions. The bar seems to have been set mighty low in order to give the Governor some alternate choices. In the case of Grisham I am almost thinking the whole nominating commission thing has become a needless waste of tax money. I mean what kind of standards did they use to conclude that this person was qualified to be a judge under:

physical and mental ability to perform tasks required
impartiality
industry
integrity
professional skills
community involvement
social awareness
collegiality
writing ability
decisiveness
judicial temperament
speaking ability

And why is integrity so far down on that list. I hope the list is random since it seems to favor a hard working judge over one with integrity and good legal skills. Imagine that.

Governor, throw us a bone. Our high and mighty have surrendered their integrity and dignity both Democrats and Republicans alike, mostly Republicans, Right Randy? (WMA) in order to help you bilk their neighbors out of their hard earned to finance your Spaceport Biscuits campaign. The least you can do is appoint a person of character to judge your financiers.