Do NOT vote for these judge candidates!

[Minnesota Raindog]

I got the "survey" of judicial candidates and their scores from the Minnesota Family Institute, so rest assured, you do NOT want to cast a ballot for any of these asshats:

GENE WERSAL and TIM TINGELSTAD for SUPREME COURT.

DAN GRIFFITH for COURT OF APPEALS

You can find their ratings here:

http://www.mnvoter.com/documents/VG2010Judges.pdf

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I think it's Greg Wersal, not Gene. He's a perennial judge candidate

and is another batshit crazy teabagger type, and Tingelstad might be even worse. And Griffith is a right-wing evangelical Jesus-freak. We do NOT want these loons deciding cases.

[Minnesota Raindog]

2. You're correct, it's GREG Wersal

How could I get that nutjob wrong after all these years of running?

Just remember--he's "wersal" than the rest, so don't vote for him.

[glinda]

3. I interviewed Tingelstad before and he wants to rule by the Bible as well as will

judge everything from a Federalist interpretation of the Constitution. He is plum scary.

[myrna minx]

4. Thanks for posting this. I was beginning to look into the down ticket races.

[trotsky]

5. Tinglestad is trying to unseat Alan Page.

THE Alan Page. Purple People Eater. He is so loved in this state I don't think ANYONE could beat him.

[progree]

6. Minnesota Women Lawyers mwlawyers.org used to endorse judicial candidates

Minnesota Women Lawyers mwlawyers.org used to endorse judicial candidates - I know they did back in 2004 and their endorsements looked good from a progressive perspectives when reading the profiles of the judges. But I can't find their endorsements after about 20 minutes searching their web site.

Here is the link that worked in 2004, but is a "page not found" now:
http://www.mwlawyers.org/MWLInitiatives/JudicialEndorsements/default.h

Does anyone know if they still do judicial candidate endorsements or why they stopped doing it? Or any other group with a progressive bent that does so?

Here's what's in the League Of Women's Voter Guide that I picked up at a Hennepin County library (Golden Valley) today with some parenthetical comments of mine.

Associate Justice-Supreme Court 2
-Helen Meyer, incumbent (sounds reasonable....)
-Greg Wersal (NO!)

Associate Justice-Supreme Court 6
-Alan Page, incumbent (YES!)
-Tim Tengelstad (NO!)

Judge-Court of Appeals 13
-RoxAnn Klugman - (NO!) "I am a Constitutionalist ... " See below for more
-Randolph Peterson, incumbent (sounds reasonable....)

Judge-Court of Appeals 14
-Dan Griffith (NO!)
-Larry Stabuer, Jr., incumbent. (Sounds reasonable)

More on RoxAnn Klugman - (NO!) "I am a Constitutionalist ... and believe in promoting the Constitution as written. The Constitution secures our freedom, and keeps our government limited and our markets free. ... must interpret the law and Constitution as written. ... Judicial activism is a key challenge facing the court .... when judges use their positions to replace the text of the law and Constitution with their own personal feelings, agenda , or life experience, they are engaging in judicial activism..."

All but one of the NO! opinions agrees with Minnesota Raindog, and from their positions given at http://www.mnvoter.com/documents/VG2010Judges.pdf (which is an eye-opener).

The one NO! I added is RoxAnn Klugman, as she sounds like Clarence Thomas / Antonin Scalia. But the above website doesn't show any positions for her (or for anyone else except Wersal, Page, Griffith, and Tengelstad).

There are other judicial races but they are all uncontested.

Thanks,
Progree

[progree]

7. A couple other resources on candidates

To see what judges are running locally (district courts) - see League of Women Voters
www.vote.lwvmn.org . But for my locality, all judicial races for district courts are uncontested. The vote.lwvmn.org site of course also has the major candidates.


Another resource, also with candidate profiles: http://elections.startribune.com/myvote/pf.php?do=start_over

[Avidor]

8. Wersal Wanted to Run Using HIs Wife's Name

http://www.dumpbachmann.com/2005/07/follow-money-to-perennial-judge.html

In August 2000, Kiffmeyer ruled that Minnesota Supreme Court candidate Greg Wersal could use his wife's maiden name, Carlson, on the ballot. Critics charged that the move was an attempt to pander to voters of Scandinavian descent. Wersal had not (at least not for any public purpose) used the name "Carlson" before the election, nor has he used it since.

Greg Wersal's major issue seems to be ranting about gays (Wersal was on Bradlee Dean's show today).

State sodomy law

We have turned democratic institutions upside down and inside out. The people through the Legislature created a crime of sodomy that has existed in one form or another since Minnesota's inception as a state. The recent decision of Hennepin County Judge Delila Pierce strikes this law down as unconstitutional. All it took to do away with the law was for a pitifully small group to sue; an activist judge to divine the unwritten constitution; and Mike Hatch, who says the attorney general has no duty to defend the laws of Minnesota when they are attacked in our courts.

Now, while nonmarried homosexual couples can legally engage in sodomy, nonmarried heterosexual couples who engage in "normal" vaginal intercourse can still be charged with a crime of fornication. Somehow this result seems absurdly appropriate.

-- Greg Wersal, attorney, Golden Valley

Tad Jude & Chris Penwell were also on Bradlee Dean's show - DON"T VOTE FOR THESE THEOCRATS!!!

[progree]

11. No wonder, Wersal looks/sounds like Weasel, nt

[Eric J in MN]

9. Star Tribune on judicial races

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/editorials/105389678.html?page=1&c=y

"Meyer, Page, Stauber and Peterson should be reelected."

[progree]

10. The way to remember statewide judicial: just vote for the incumbents

For statewide judicial races, all of the recommended ones also happen to be the incumbents.

For the local judicial races (District Courts), that's probably true too in the vast majority of cases (most are uncontested too), but to be sure, see my post #7 above to see who is running in your locality.

[Minnesota Raindog]

12. Vote for Pete Marker in 10th District Court 3 race and Orput for Washington Cty Attorney

There are a ton of candidates in that 10th District judge race, but progressives are supporting Pete Marker.

For Washington County Attorney, Pete Orput is the preferred candidate. His opponent Kevin Shoeberg has appeared at teabagger events and his signs appear side-by-side of known Republicans throughout the county.

[Eric J in MN]

13. I voted for the incumbent in every judicial race I voted in today. NT

NT

[Owl]

14. I agree.

[progree]

15. State-wide judicial races - all good, though 3 of 4 whack jobs over 40%

Supreme Court District 2 - Helen Meyer 58%, Greg Wersal 42% (98% reporting)
Supreme Court District 6 - Alan Page 63%, Tim Tingelstad 37% (98% reporting)
Appeals Court District 13 - Randolph Peterson 57%, Roxann Klugman 43% (99% reporting)
Appears Court District 14 - Larry Stauber 52%, Dan Griffith 48% (99% reporting)

All 4 incumbents won. Excepting Roxann Klugman, the four losers all had horrible positions on social issues at http://www.mnvoter.com/documents/VG2010Judges.pdf

The last race is awful scary, the whack-job losing by only 4 percentage points.

As for Roxann Klugman, who didn't answer the above survey, she is a "strict constitutionalist" (in her own mind and in her own interpretation of the constitution of course).