Two Judicial Races

AlphaPatriot — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 01:42:31 +0000

Judge Ward won Criminal Court Judge (Div. 9) by a mere 8 points. Ward was voted “Judge of the Year” by his peers in 2005 and endorsed by both the Democrat and Republican parties. Yet his opponent, Alicia Howard, garnered over 55 thousand votes in spite of the fact that she has “virtually no criminal experience” and filed for bankruptcy in 2000.

Jim Lammey trounced his opponent for Criminal Court Judge (Div. 5) by 30 points. Yet he had a weak endorsement from the Commercial Appeal and his opponent, Dewun Settle, was endorsed by the Democrat Party. I doubt that the voters knew or cared that Settle has been censured, found in willful contempt of court and pleaded guilty to charges of legal malpractice.

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Endorsement for Mark Ward, Criminal Court Judge Div. 9

AlphaPatriot — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 19:08:47 +0000

Sometimes the choice is too easy, and this is one of those times. Reelect Mark Ward to sit on the bench of Criminal Court, Division 9.

The Commercial Appeal issued a strong endorsement for Ward:

The choice in this race is a no-brainer. Judge MARK WARD, appointed to the position in 2004, clearly deserves a full term.
In the 2005 bar association ratings, Ward, 49, scored the highest of any judge, state or federal, in the survey. His entire legal career has been focused on criminal law as a teacher, private attorney and public defender.
His opponent, attorney Alicia Howard, has limited criminal trial experience.

But once again, it is attorney Richard Fields that has the full story (emphasis added):

Judge Mark Ward is an exceptional judge and person. Appointed to his position
in 2005, he was rated by the Memphis Bar Association in the survey of its
members as the best judge in Shelby County and was selected “Judge of the Year”
for 2005. This is significant as most members of the Memphis Bar Association
are civil practice lawyers. He has over 30 years experience in the criminal justice
system as the assistant public defender, an Adjunct Professor of Law in Criminal
Procedure at the School of Law-University of Memphis, a clerk on the Criminal
Court of Appeals, and private criminal defense practice. He also is the author of
the authoritative Tennessee Criminal Trial Practice. His education background
includes a B.A. – Law Enforcement and M.A.’s in Criminal Justice and Religion.

His opponent, Alicia Howard, has virtually no criminal jury trial experience. Her
last employment as an Assistant City Attorney involved no criminal work. After
leaving the City Attorney’s Office, she filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Jackson,
Tennessee in 2000. Her 20 years of practice have been undistinguished and does
not make her in any way fit to replace Judge Ward.

Given Judge Ward’s outstanding credentials and the respect of his peers, one wonders at Ms. Howard’s judgement at attempting to knock off such an obviously qualified opponent. Furthermore, both politcal parties in Shelby County have endorsed Judge Ward — a rare occurance.

Criminal Court Judge Division 9
	Alicia Howard
	Mark Ward

Mark Ward has been endorsed by:

His opponent, Alicia Howard, has been endorsed by:

[*** crickets chirping ***]

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Two Judicial Races

Endorsement for Mark Ward, Criminal Court Judge Div. 9