Letters to the editor LGO teaser

I support reelecting Judge Wes Williams this May. He has a sound grasp of both criminal and civil law, having served as an attorney in private practice for many years and currently as a Union and Wallowa county judge.

I was impressed to learn that out of the thousands of decisions Judge Williams has made, including both civil and criminal cases, only one was overturned by the Court of Appeals. Prosecutors have never even appealed a decision of Judge Williams’. Not once.

That’s why I was dismayed to hear that our district attorney, appointed DA by Kitzhaber in 2014, consistently disqualifies Judge Williams from hearing criminal cases. In doing so, she purposely chooses to assign them to Union and Wallowa counties’ other judge, another gubernatorial appointee by Kate Brown. Why would that be?

That question led me to ask about the practice of disqualifying judges and I learned that Senate Bill 807 went into effect this last Jan. 1, allowing judges to challenge any motion for disqualification that would deny assignments to criminal or juvenile delinquency dockets. The right to disqualify is protected, but now judges can rightfully challenge abuse and overreach that serve agendas rather than justice.

I look forward to Judge Williams winning reelection and then challenging the DA’s disqualifications in a SB 807 hearing.

Sharon A. Barrick

La Grande

The Observer will run endorsement letters of no more than 350 words. We institute a deadline for letters to the editor so we can be fair with all the letters we receive and allow for responses before Election Day, if necessary. We run local letters of endorsement on a first-come, first-served basis. Please submit your endorsement letters to the editor by 5 p.m. Friday, April 26. You can email them to news@lagrandeobserver.com or mail them to The Observer, Attn.: Andrew Cutler, 911 Jefferson Ave., La Grande, OR 97850. We will publish our last endorsement letters on Saturday, May 18. Any letters received after the April 26 deadline will not be published in print or online.