Letters to the editor LGO teaser

I am a retired attorney with 40-plus years of experience. I have the experience of having tried cases against and personally know well both candidates for Union County Circuit Court Judge.

My choice for judge centers around the pattern of Union County consistently removing Judge Williams from criminal cases. Additionally, district attorneys from the surrounding counties have followed suit to get non-biased court rulings. When judges are removed, the additional workload burden falls onto other judges in the county or from other outside counties.

Currently, the docket for most counties is predominately 80% to 85% criminal work. Judge Williams began showing favoritism toward criminals by suggesting on the record how to try their cases and recommending experts be hired to assist with their cases. This is conduct unbecoming of a person who has given an oath of impartiality and to be non-biased in his judgments. Adding to his deficiencies is his unwillingness to follow the guidelines for sentencing including bail, fines, and jail time. This has led to less severe and very inconsistent sentencing. It’s time to let Judge Williams return to his private practice, which was quite successful.

Jared Boyd has worked as deputy district attorney in Union County for eight years and then established his private practice representing criminal and civil matters. With experience on both the prosecuting and defending side of a criminal matter, he will show impartiality and also handle his “fair share” of the caseload, stopping the other judges from having to pick up the slack.

If you want to know who to vote for I would ask you the following two questions:

Is it fair to the other judges to pick up a significant portion of Judge Williams’ caseload while he earns his salary and benefits with a significantly smaller case docket to handle?

Do we want to continue with a sitting judge with a pattern of favoritism to criminals and unable to comply with sentencing guidelines?

These are easy questions and in my opinion the answer to both is “no.” I will vote for Jared Boyd for Union County Circuit Judge.

David Baum

La Grande