Three Judicial Endorsements

As your humble Cracker prepares to return for a family gathering to my ancestral home on the banks of the polluted Rock River in beautiful Northwestern Illinois, I want to leave you with three CRITICAL judicial endorsements. Undoubtedly, Judges must have been on my mind, as that's the Lee County Courts Building in the background behind the Dixon Arch.

First, in Criminal Court, Division 1, it is imperative that JUDGE PAULA SKAHAN be retained as our judge. Prior to her appointment to the bench by Governor Bredesen (at last, something I can applaud him for doing!), Judge Skahan spent time as a prosecutor and then established an exemplary criminal defense practice that spent a great deal of time on Capital cases. She has years of experience, and she is admired by those who appear before her, and I believe the local bar has judged her to be WELL QUALIFIED for this office.

Her opponent, Tonya Saafir, has nowhere near the wide range of experience as Judge Skahan, and simply could not at this time provide the depth of ability.

My other Criminal Court choice is LEE COFFEE for Division 7. Coffee, currently a prosecutor in the Attorney General's office, has spent years in criminal procedure in the local courts, and is clearly the best option to replace retiring Judge Arthur Bennett. Coffee is opposed by Janet Shipman, Larry Nance, and Doris Holt.

My lone civil endorsement at this time goes to REGINA MORRISON NEWMAN, who is running to succeed retiring Judge Russell Sugarmon in General Sessions, Division 4, has been endorsed by half the attorneys in town, it seems. She has had a thriving civil practice in this area for many years, and will do an exemplary job. There are 8 people in the race, I believe, so I am not going to name them all. I do believe Regina is the most qualified candidate, not to mention that I have known her for, well, OK, a LOT of years!

Please vote for these fine candidates!