By Paul Daquilante • Staff Writer • 

Chapman would bring heavy civil experience to the bench

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Comments

ronjm

I don't think 7 years is "heavy civil experience." It's interesting that most of the other candidates have at least that much but aren't bothering to tout it. Chapman talks about the need for a well-rounded court but no matter who we elect of the other four in the race, we will get that.

The question is, do we want a judge who is short on experience and in the pocket of the unions, or do we want experience without bias?

Local

They don’t bother to talk about their civil experience because it’s minimal to none. You have a prosecutor and 3 defense attorneys, they are all one trick ponies. Their years of experience does not mean quality of work.
A judge should be ethical & above reproach. They should be able to enter every case without pre-discriminations or bias.
From the quotes that Miller has posted, she has proven that she comes with heavy bias & is in the pocket of the DA. Not sure how many cases the Union brings before the circuit courts but I’m pretty sure the DA does quite often.
And her take on the homeless situation in McMinnville was despicable (check the transcripts from first candidate forum).

We could argue all day in favor of the candidate we are voting for, but the reality is that the voters need to do their homework and figure out for themselves who they want to represent our great county. To be swayed by ignorant comments and negative campaigning would be most unfortunate.

Bella

Ron, between her years at the Department of Justice, AFSME, and for private firms, Chapman has over 15 years experience in civil law. If you remain confused on this point, I’d recommend educating yourself on the scope and meaning of civil practice.

You seem to imply that Chapman’s work representing workers rights correlates to being “in the pocket” of unions, as if unions are somehow toxic. Do you realize that there are thousands of members of various unions in Yamhill County, ranging from grocery workers to teachers to nurses to mechanics to janitors, etc.? Even DDA Lisl Miller is a member of a union! Are all of these workers somehow “tainted” by their union memberships? Do you see them as unworthy of legal representation?

Under your logic, do Miller’s years as a DDA mean she would be “in the pocket” of future DDA’s who appear before her? Or “in the pocket” of the County as a whole, which is her current employer? I’d certainly hope not.

Bill B

Wow! Some very strong feelings here.

T.W.S.

Well the way I see this is analogous to owning a Porsche and instead of taking it to a Porsche dealership, it is taken it to the Chevrolet dealership for service. While both dealerships have professional and certified mechanics, both knowing how an engine works, how well do you think the Chevy mechanic will be able to service and fix what is wrong with the Porsche? Two different vehicles, each requiring a "specialist" to fix them, respectively.

Think of the Porsche as criminal law and the Chevy as civil law. While everyone working in each field of practice is 'an attorney,' but because they specialize in their respective field, they are limited in experience to their respective field of practice. In other words, how effective would a divorce or bankruptcy attorney be as a a judge in a circuit court that primarily hears criminal cases? If you were charged with a crime, would you seek the counsel of a civil attorney (i.e. go to the Chevy dealership with your Porsche)?

Chapman may be an excellent civil attorney who has the respect of her peers, but there is a reason why most judge positions have been filled by a former DDA/prosecutor. And in this matter/question for the next open judge position, there is only one candidate who is exceptionally qualified to assume the role: DDA Miller.

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