ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Best Choices for the Courts

Two of the toughest decisions facing voters June 5 are in the judicial contests for open seats in the West Orange County Municipal Court and on the Superior Court bench.

What makes judicial races so difficult for most voters is that they usually know little or nothing about the candidates. Judicial elections are low profile because judges and would-be judges generally are loath to solicit money and to wage the kind of knockdown, spirited campaigns that typify other contests. Judicial candidates are concerned about being considered too “unjudicial.”

This year is no different. But in both contests, there are well-qualified candidates thatOrange County residents can vote for with confidence.

We have talked with all the candidates, read their literature, checked their backgrounds and discussed their qualifications with attorneys and judges in an effort to determine who most possesses the qualities that people want to see in judges: honesty, knowledge of the law, sound judicial temperament, independence and the ability to see and understand the issue. A good dose of common sense is a must, too.

In the Municipal Court race, Donald S. Macintyre, who has been a commissioner in the court since 1986, is best qualified. As a commissioner, Macintyre has been doing all the work a judge would do and has done it so well that he has won the support of all the judges in the West Court and endorsements from a variety of law enforcement, political and labor groups.

Macintyre is a former prosecutor, and he served as a presiding judge in Lassen County for nine years before coming to Orange County. His experience and proven ability on the bench make him the best choice.

In the Superior Court race, there are two well-qualified candidates. Robert E. Thomas and Glenn Mahler are both Municipal Court judges who deserve to move up to the Superior Court bench. But having to pick one, we give Thomas the edge because of his extensive activities in trying to improve the court system to make it speedier and more efficient.

Thomas, in addition to his courtroom duties, has been selected to lecture to new, incoming Municipal Court judges, and he teaches law courses. He has also been innovative in trying to improve the lower court system. Thomas has been a leading proponent of weekend arraignments to reduce jail overcrowding, of video arraignments of County Jail prisoners to save time and transportation costs, and of an “image processing” system for court records.

Voters should make Donald S. Macintyre a permanent judge in the West Orange County Municipal Court and elect Robert E. Thomas to the Superior Court bench.