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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Ind. Courts - Gary P-T editorial on Lake County Circuit judgeship

The March 19, 2010 editorial in the Gary Post Tribune, signed by Rich James, editorial page editor, is headed "Political deceit reaches on high." Some quotes:

Lake Circuit Court Judge Lorenzo Arredondo pulled a fast one on Feb. 19 when he told the voters of Lake County -- the ones who supported him for 30 years -- that they no longer count.

At 11:56 a.m. on Feb. 19 -- four minutes before the close of filing for the primary -- Arredondo withdrew his candidacy for re-election.

Arredondo had filed on Jan. 20 -- the first day of filing -- to make sure no one else got into the race, so that a month later he could deal an ace from the bottom of the deck.

Two minutes before he withdrew, Merrillville Town Judge George Paras filed for Lorenzo's Circuit Court seat.

Only because word of the sweetheart deal had leaked, did Alexander Dominguez get wind of the coup and filed for the job -- about half an hour before Paras.

What it comes down to is that Arredondo and Paras decided that they know what's best for the people of Lake County. They decided they also know what's good for the judicial community of Lake County.

With the utmost arrogance, they decided the voters don't matter.

No, they were going to pass down the judgeship as if it were an heirloom -- not a courtroom that decides the fate of individuals, organizations and corporations. * * *

Unfortunately for all of us, the legal community said nothing. They just shuffled along as if nothing had happened. Sheep in the pasture. * * *

The really sad part is that there is nothing to prevent this from happening again.

The only thing to stop it is remove the Circuit Court judges from politics and put them in the merit system.

But in the case of the Circuit Court judge, that would require a constitutional amendment. And we know that's not going to happen.

So Lake County is left with another black eye politically.

And the one who threw the punch is a judge. It doesn't get much worse than that.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 21, 2010 08:52 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts