November 2010 Election, Los Angeles County, California, Judge of the Superior Court, Office 28

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Revision as of 16:33, 13 September 2010 by Seanmcox (talk | contribs) (Added thoughts.)
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The pick for Office 28 in 2010 is Mark K. Ameli.

Both candidates are rated Qualified by the L.A. County Bar Association.[1] Mark K. Ameli was endorsed by the Metropolitan News Enterprise for the Primary.[2]

I couldn't really distinguish a clear ideological affiliation difference between Hammock and Ameli. According to my Primary research, Ameli has significant left-wing endorsements, but Hammock is also a Democrat. (A fact which is not easy to discover in others.) Reviewing Hammock's endorsements in particular, it is also clear that his supporters are typically liberal.

The endorsement here, of Mark K. Ameli, is primarily due to his excellent response to a question he was asked via email during the primary. (See below)

Candidates

Mark K. Ameli
Randy Hammock

Letters

During the Primary, I drafted a letter for each of the candidates for Superior Court Judge. I got responses from a small portion of the candidates, and most of them were fairly disappointing. None of the responses really helped me decide who to endorse for the Primary. Nevertheless, among the responses that I got, I recalled that one stood out from the others, and I had told myself that if I were restricted to the likely front runners, this response would have won my endorsement. The response I am referring to came from Mark K. Ameli. I also got a response from Randy Hammock.

My Letter

As a voter, I was wondering if you could offer me some brief thoughts on what the rule of law means to you, and what responsibility you see individual citizens as having in promoting their own welfare, and the welfare of society, and what kinds of limitations you see to that responsibility.

Mark K. Ameli's Response

I apologize for the long delay in responding to your E-Mail. Aside from the tremendously busy schedule, your question was very profound and required some thinking on my part. We all should take responsibility for our own welfare and the welfare of our family. As a part of my community service I have been involved in gang violence prevention and I have studied cultural issues which contribute to gang violence. If all the citizens took more responsibility for their family and their children, we would have much fewer gang members and a lot less gang violence. Therefore, I do believe that personal responsibility is of utmost importance.


Taking responsibility for the welfare of one's society, is a more difficult issue. I was reading somewhere that if you want to find yourself, you should lose yourself in the service to others. I believe that if we serve our community, we will serve ourselves better and we will be happier as a community. This service may take different forms. Some serve through charity and others through civil service. Regardless of your inclination, you may serve your community in many different ways.

I do believe that regardless of what we do, it will have to be done within the framework of the laws of our country and I will ascertain that such laws are complied with to their fullest extent in my courtroom.

Thank you for your question.

Randy Hammock's Response

Thank you for your email. You ask a complex and excellent philosophical question. I can try to give you a direct answer, to the extent I understand your somewhat broad question.


The rule of law is the foundation upon which our society is built. As a current judicial officer, it is my job to fairly apply the law, not to create it. Laws are to be created by the legislative branch, and they are to be applied by the judicial branch.

Each citizen has a responsibilty to understand and to obey the law. Unjust laws may be challenged by a citizen by utilizing the legal process, and not by simple anarchy.

Despite its flaws, our legal system works, and I take pride in being a part of it.

External Resources

References

  1. http://www.lacba.org/showpage.cfm?pageid=11720, "CANDIDATES FACING RUNOFF IN NOVEMBER GENERAL ELECTION", Los Angeles County Bar Association
  2. http://www.metnews.com/endorse.htm, "By the Metropolitan News-Enterprise in Los Angeles Superior Court Races", Metropolitan News-Enterprise, 2010