The Race for Judge Shouldn't Boil Down to Who the Good 'Ol Boys Want

Both sides in San Angelo's 391st District Judge race gave us their best shot, twice each, over the past four days of the Top of the Email. We provided the opportunity to each campaign because, in the spirit of Jesse Jones, this news platform is an instrument of the public trust.

In case you missed all of the opinions, here they are:

For Carmen Dusek

David Nowlin

Gus Clemens

For Brad Goodwin

Alvin Hale

Stephen McLaughlin

Now, it’s my turn.

The two Top of the Email opinions linked above for Carmen Dusek concentrated on competence and qualifications. Brad Goodwin’s side relied upon endorsements from bailiffs.

After reading Goodwin’s endorsements from the bailiffs, I wondered how those bailiffs knew anything about Brad Goodwin because court records indicate he set foot in a Tom Green County courtroom maybe 20 times over the past five years.

The Goodwin campaign relies upon optics and obscuration of the facts to push the idea that Goodwin is a good guy who deserves to be judge because he’s tough on crime.  To mention anything otherwise means one has “bias” or is breaking the code of conduct for the Good ‘ol Boy network by “going negative.”

Kick me out of the Good ‘ol Boy network because I’m going to deconstruct the myths:

Myth #1: Goodwin is an experienced prosecutor and will be tough on crime. The last time Goodwin prosecuted a case was when Bill Clinton was president. Prosecuting requires currency of experience to be up-to-date on the laws and procedures in order to win. It’s just like flying. The last time I piloted a B-52 was when Bill Clinton was president. Today, Goodwin is no more qualified to prosecute crime than I am to fly a combat sortie. Besides that, DAs prosecute crime; judges are referees insuring a fair trial for both defendant and the prosecution. Goodwin doesn’t have any criminal defense trial experience in the county within the last five years either.

Myth #2: The 391st handles 50+ percent of the criminal cases. Both campaigns are involved in a bar chart vs. pie graph war over what the makeup of the docket for the 391^st is. Who cares what the docket’s criminal vs. civil case docket is? Goodwin has no recent experience as a criminal prosecutor. His trial experience in any type of case, civil or otherwise, in any court in the county over the past five years is practically non-existent, too.

Myth #3: The 391st doesn’t handle CPS cases, just mostly crime, therefore Goodwin’s criminal prosecution experience is more relevant. This is actually a passive-aggressive attack on opponent Carmen Dusek who has made protecting children among her areas of legal expertise, such as by representing children in difficult CPS cases, like during the FLDS trials. Over the past five years, of Goodwin’s 20 TGC district court appearances, 12, or 60 percent of them, were CPS cases. The others were suing Shannon Medical Center for a client and representing Webb, Stokes and Spark’s clients in personal injury lawsuits.

Myth #4 Goodwin’s experience in prosecuting juvenile crime in Lubbock make him uniquely qualified to continue the tradition of juvenile prosecution in the 391^st. Again, Goodwin has no recent experience doing this. Over a half a decade or more after Goodwin entered private law practice in 2004, the State of Texas completely rewrote the statutes in juvenile law. Major juvenile justice reform occurred in Texas with the Texas Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 653 in 2011. Lacking any experience after the statutes changed, whatever benefit that ancient juvenile prosecution experience on Goodwin’s resume will provide the 391st is exaggerated by his campaign.

Myth #5: Good ‘ol Boys make good judges. Goodwin’s appeal is that he’s a Good ‘ol Boy. Three years ago, the Good ‘ol Boys in Val Verde County wanted Gov. Rick Perry to appoint a non-trial attorney in private practice with little recent courtroom experience to the 83^rd District Court after the incumbent there passed away.

The Governor’s office was at the time also vetting Robert Cadena, a Republican, who was a very experienced assistant federal prosecutor—a trial attorney with a mountain of courtroom experience. The Good ‘ol Boys told Perry that Cadena was a bad choice because Cadena had voted for or publicly supported a Democrat or two in the recent past. (It’s hard for a Republican to avoid doing that in a border county. Often, the best candidate is a Democrat.)

Perry looked at the most recent five-year trial history of the candidates and appointed Cadena despite the Good ‘ol Boy network’s objections. Cadena has since proven to be an excellent judge.

The choice you’re about to make in the race for 391^st Judge is between a well-liked Good ‘ol Boy, Goodwin, with just 20 appearances in a local district court since Jan. 2011, or an experienced trial attorney like Carmen Dusek who is in court almost every single day winning. Dusek had 233 court appearances in this county’s district courts since Jan. 2011. Many, many additional appearances were in other district courts across the state.

Let that sink in: 233 versus just 20.

If the Governor’s office looks at recent trial experience over the most recent five-year timeframe to vet attorneys to fill judicial vacancies, shouldn’t you?

I have never publicly endorsed a candidate before, but I am here. The courts here require smart, honest, and hardworking jurists like Carmen.

Vote for Carmen Dusek for judge.

Early voting continues through Friday, Feb. 26. The election is Tuesday, Mar. 1.