ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Three Fine Judicial Candidates

Many voters, by the time they get near the end of long ballots such as the one facing them June 2, often just stop voting. That’s too bad because down on the ballot is where the important local races are listed.

The problem is that unlike the more visible federal and state races, many voters unfortunately know little if anything about candidates in the local contests. That’s the case with the 11 people seeking three judgeships on the June 2 ballot.

The courts need judges who can see the issues clearly. They must be independent people who know the law and follow it with fairness, compassion and sound judicial temperament. In searching for those qualities, we interview the candidates, study their backgrounds and check with other attorneys and judges in a position to evaluate them. We found three candidates we can recommend enthusiastically for office.

Two of them, Margaret R. Anderson and James M. Brooks, currently sit as judges and have proven records of able performance. The third, Donna L. Crandall, is a prosecutor held in the highest regard in the legal community.

Crandall, who is seeking the open Office 9 seat in Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana, has lived in the court district for 30 years. She knows the court and the area it represents. She was a Superior Court clerk for 12 years and has been a deputy district attorney since 1984. She is a hard worker with the intelligence, toughness and compassion to be an outstanding judge. Her opponents also would make good judges, but Crandall is the class of the field.

The other opening in the Central Court is in Office 1, where Judge Brooks is seeking a second term. He faces a weak challenge from a civil attorney who lacks the background, experience and leadership that Brooks brings to the court. Brooks, a former prosecutor in Orange County for 14 years, is presiding judge of the Central Court. He is active in court reform and is a leader statewide in modernizing court procedures. He has earned the reputation of being a very capable and fair-minded judge, and his reelection is being supported by law enforcement agencies and more than 40 Orange County judges.

In the Harbor Municipal Court, five candidates are seeking the open seat in Office 1. Judge Anderson is the most experienced and should be elected. She has been a judge in the North County Municipal Court since 1984 and at times fills a dual role as a Superior Court judge. She has shown intelligence and toughness and is considered to be a hard-working, competent jurist. Anderson is seeking the Harbor Court post because she wants to be closer to her home in Huntington Beach. Whatever Judge Anderson’s reason for wanting to move, she is the best candidate.