Judge’s Comments

In response to your article “Racial Slurs Attributed to U.S. Magistrate” (Jan. 21), rarely have I read an article that so unfairly mischaracterized an individual.

I have known Judge Harry R. McCue for over 14 years, as a fellow U.S. magistrate and colleague during the 1970s and early 1980s, as a defense counsel opposing him in criminal matters as he served as an assistant U.S. attorney. Harry also appeared in my court as a prosecutor during a time that I served as a U.S. commissioner.

I have always known Judge McCue to be exceptionally fair and even-handed. He is a courageous judge of high intelligence. He is very hard-working and committed to making the judicial process meaningful. He does not simply move cases, but treats each defendant individually and attempts to create a process whereby the defendants before him come away from the courtroom with lessons that might help change their behavior.

I am baffled that recognizing the ethnicity of an individual in these circumstances would be characterized as racial slurs. My reading of his remarks appear only to have been an attempt to force the defendant to reflect on his conduct.

The article, even if unintended, had the effect of assassinating the character of a fine judge.

VICTOR E. BIANCHINI, Municipal Court Judge, El Cajon Judicial District