I prefer to make a funny face and ask: How is a judicial candidate like the city park system? Or for a question that sounds less like the set-up to a punch line: What’s the deal with downtown Ann Arbor and its connection to the art millage and the library bond proposal?

Voting results from two Nov. 6, 2012 proposals on the Ann Arbor ballot: The Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal and the public art millage. Maps do not include the portion of the library district outside the city boundary. Maps show only in-person votes, not including absentee voters. Shades of green through white indicate a majority voting yes. Shades of lavender through purple indicate a majority voting no. (Maps by The Chronicle.)

Of course, politicians are at least partly right when they say that the voters have spoken. But what did the voters actually say? It’s easy to make true statements about voter sentiment – if you stick to the text of the ballot.

For example, in the non-incumbent race for judge of the 22nd Circuit Court, more voters preferred to have Carol Kuhnke decide future Washtenaw County court cases than to have Jim Fink decide them. You can tell that just from the ballot and from the results. But it’s possible to make a stronger claim: More voters preferred the kind of person Kuhnke is – a candidate endorsed by the city of Ann Arbor Democratic Party. And to support that claim, we’d need to look at other results, like those from the presidential election.

Or by way of another example, the election results indicate that a majority of Ann Arbor voters said they do not want the city to levy an 0.1 mill tax to pay for art in public places. That’s all you can tell from the ballot question and the results. To make stronger claims – related, for example, to what (if anything) voters were trying to say about the existing Percent for Art program – you’d need to find some other way to explore the content of voters’ minds.

The same goes for the Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal and the parks maintenance and capital improvements millage renewal. “Do not tax us to make the bond payments for a new downtown library building, but please continue to tax us to pay for city park needs.” That’s all voters said. They didn’t say anything about their favorite books, or which city park is the best. (By the way, it’s West Park, located in Ward 5, which is indisputably the highest-numbered ward in the city.)

Yet we’d like to divine something more from the results than just the results.

This column, which is heavy on impressionistic conclusions based on maps, and light on rigorous statistical analysis, begins with mapped illustrations of some basics. For example, mostly Democrats live in the eastern portion of Washtenaw County. And in Ann Arbor, Wards 2 and 4 are the strongest city wards for Republicans – even though those wards also lean Democratic. That’s still true 20 years after Ann Arbor’s ward boundaries were drawn to achieve that effect.

The column concludes by illustrating a possible geographic connection between the failed public art millage and the failed downtown library bond proposal – namely, downtown Ann Arbor. 

Ann Arbor City Ward Boundaries

The ward boundaries in the city of Ann Arbor underwent their last substantial revision in the early 1990s. The goal of the redistricting was to establish three heavily Democratic wards (1, 3 and 5), leaving two Republican-leaning wards (2 and 4). Comparing the ward boundaries in Map 1 and the results of the presidential race in Map 2, the ward-wise distribution of Democrats and Republicans has remained fairly stable. Except in the northwest precincts of Ward 4 – where the Ward 5 Democratic strength bleeds down into Ward 4 – the ward boundaries are reflected clearly in the presidential results.

Map 1: Ann Arbor ward boundaries.

Map 2: Ann Arbor 2012 presidential election results (in-person voting only.) Darker blue reflects greater strength for Democrat Barack Obama.

Judges, Dems, Parks

Judicial races are non-partisan. But in the non-incumbent race between Carol Kuhnke and Jim Fink, the local Democratic Party endorsed Kuhnke. And Fink himself, during a candidate forum hosted by the Democratic Party, acknowledged that if it were a partisan legislative race, ”you would not even think about voting for me.” So it was not a secret that Kuhnke was “the Democrat” and Fink “the Republican” in the race. Fink’s pitch to Democrats as voters was that he would follow the law and as a judge set aside his personal views. And in fact, several high-profile Democrats supported his campaign.

In Map 3, the results within the city of Ann Arbor show that support for Kuhnke shows a vaguely similar pattern to the presidential results. But it was not by any means an exact mirroring of the pattern of support received by the Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama. In fact, the geographic distribution of Kuhnke’s support within the city of Ann Arbor seems to resemble more closely support for the parks millage (Map 4) than it does support for Obama.

Map 3: Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor city results for 22nd Circuit Court non-incumbent judicial race (in-person voting results only). Darker blue areas reflect stronger support for Carol Kuhnke, who defeated Jim Fink.

Map 4: Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor city results for parks maintenance & capital improvements millage renewal (in-person voting results only). Darker green areas indicate greater support for the parks millage.

Countywide Judicial Race

Countywide, the race between Kuhnke and Fink (Map 6) also showed a roughly similar pattern to the presidential race (Map 5), but it was not by any stretch an exact mirroring.

Map 5: Washtenaw County presidential results for the Nov. 6, 2012 election. Blue shades indicate a majority for Democrat Barack Obama. Red shades indicate support for Republican Mitt Romney.

Map 6: Nov. 6, 2012 Washtenaw County results for 22nd Circuit Court non-incumbent judicial race. Blue shades indicate a majority for Carol Kuhnke. Red indicates support for Jim Fink.

So I think it’s fair to conclude that a substantial number of people voted for the kind of person that they perceived Kuhnke to be (a Democrat, with whatever associations that comes with) as contrasted with the kind of person they perceived Fink to be (a Republican, with whatever associations that comes with). But it’s also fair to conclude that many voters appealed to something other than the “party” in making their choice.

Art and the Library: Downtown Connection

I don’t think the geographic distribution of results in the presidential and judicial races is particularly surprising, even if they do make for pretty maps.

But the distribution of results within the city of Ann Arbor for the public art millage (Map 7) and the Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal (Map 8) reveals something interesting: One factor underlying voter sentiment on those two questions seems to be proximity to the downtown.

Both proposals drew their strongest support from areas near the geographic center of the city. Opposition was strongest in areas further away from the geographic center. For the library bond proposal, which would have funded construction of a new downtown library building, that’s not surprising. For the public art millage, it’s not as obvious that this should be the case.

One possible theory is that folks who live in or near downtown are just more “cosmopolitan” and “arty” and for that reason supported the millage. More plausible, I think, is the idea that greater support in the core areas really reflects less opposition – and that the opposition was based in part on the perception that the public art millage was all about only the downtown. That perception could be based on the fact that the two highest profile, most expensive, and most controversial pieces of public art produced by the city’s current Percent for Art program are located downtown: Herbert Dreiseitl’s fountain sculpture, and Ed Carpenter’s interior piece, both at the new Justice Center. [Carpenter's hanging sculpture has been commissioned, but not yet installed.]

Perhaps some of the votes against the public art millage might be seen as votes against a downtown-centric art program. The Ann Arbor public art commission has recently been working toward an approach that would be more geographically balanced – based on quadrants of the city. And a revision to the city’s public art ordinance that’s expected to be brought forward at the Nov. 19 city council meeting also has a geographic component. The proposed revision to the ordinance includes a requirement that councilmembers for the ward where a piece of art is proposed be notified of that proposal.

To the extent that the results on these two proposals reflect something about attitudes toward the downtown, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority should take notice. Part of the logic behind enacting a downtown development authority – with its ability to “capture” taxes of other jurisdictions – is to pay for investments in the downtown area that wouldn’t otherwise be made.

Those investments wouldn’t otherwise be made, because the downtown would likely lose every single time, if the use of those taxes were put through the regular budgeting process. That’s because voters in the periphery (who’ll vote like any voters at least partly in a self-interested way) outnumber those in the core. The enactment of a downtown development authority is a mechanism for enforcing the discipline of making infrastructure investments in the downtown, without subjecting them to the relatively volatile annual city budgeting process.

I think one of the minor lessons of the 2012 general election in Ann Arbor is that the case for investments in the downtown is not obvious to many voters, and will need to be made on an ongoing basis.

Map 7: Results of the Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor public art millage. Maps show only in-person votes, not including absentee voters. Shades of green through white indicate a majority voting yes. Shades of lavender through purple indicate a majority voting no.

Map 8: Results for the Nov. 6, 2012 Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal (in-person voting results only). Results from townships outside Ann Arbor are not included. Shades of green through white indicate a majority voting yes. Shades of lavender through purple indicate a majority voting no.

Links to Maps

Links to the dynamic maps built by The Chronicle on geocommons.com:

• 2012 Ann Arbor city parks millage
• 2012 Ann Arbor public art millage
• 2012 Ann Arbor District Library bond proposal for a new downtown library
• 2012 Washtenaw County non-incumbent 22nd Circuit Court judicial race
• 2012 Washtenaw County U.S. presidential race results
• 2012 Ann Arbor city non-incumbent 22nd Circuit Court judicial race
• 2012 Ann Arbor city U.S. presidential race results

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Names on the ballot for the non-incumbent position on the 22nd Circuit Court: Jim Fink and Carol Kuhnke. (Photos by the writer.)

At a candidate forum held in Ann Arbor’s Bach Elementary School cafeteria earlier this month, sponsored by the Washtenaw County Bar Association and the Old West Side Association, Kuhnke and Fink fielded questions on fairly standard topics: judicial temperament, experience, role models and the like.

In addition, Kuhnke and Fink have both provided written responses to questions on the League of Women Voters vote411.org website. And they previously participated in a June 23 forum for the primary race covered by The Chronicle, which included a total of four candidates.

Campaign finance statements filed with the state show that the cumulative total amounts raised by Kuhnke and Fink for their campaigns are $82,018 and $93,465 respectively.

Of her $82,018 total, Kuhnke has raised $46,738 since the primary election, and had spent just $13,892 between the primary and the close of books on Oct. 21. That left her with $34,405 to spend in the final two weeks of the general election campaign. Of his $93,465, Fink has raised $37,635 since the primary, and has spent $20,967 during the same period. He has $21,417 left to spend in the final two weeks.

Kuhnke has been practicing law for 18 years, longer than Fink’s 14 years, and is campaigning with the slogan, “The most experienced.” Fink is inclined to add to the mix his previous 20 years of experience working in law enforcement, starting in 1977 as a Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputy and moving up the ranks to commander.

Fink argued implicitly that the quality of the endorsements he’s received – from local judges – is better than some Kuhnke has received, from judges in other counties in southeastern Michigan where she’s argued cases. One local judge, Tim Connors – who is seeking re-election to the 22nd Circuit Court in a separate race against Mike Woodyard – is listed on websites for both Fink and Kuhnke among their endorsements. Connors and Woodyard participated in the Oct. 16 forum with Fink and Kuhnke – their responses are included in a separate Chronicle report.

Fink challenged any perception that he felt entitled to the judgeship based on the service of his father and older brother as judges, by stating it’s not the case that he felt entitled. He described how he’d always planned to practice law, even though he took a “side trip” to work in law enforcement.

Kuhnke described her vocation to the law as stemming in part from her undergrad studies in philosophy, and the impact that the meaning of words can have on people’s lives. She was matter of fact in drawing out one contrast between herself and Fink: “I’m a woman.” She thinks that having a woman’s voice on the court is important, but stated that she did not think she deserved a vote just because she is a woman.

An issue related to women’s health was highlighted in a question fielded from the audience. Fink is endorsed by Right to Life of Michigan – so the question related to whether Fink had pledged to rule against young women who were requesting a “judicial bypass” for permission to have an abortion. Fink was emphatic in stating that in order to receive that organization’s endorsement, he’d made no such pledge and that he hadn’t been asked such a question.

Even though the judicial bypass question came last at the forum, this detailed report of candidate responses begins there.

Judicial Bypass

The issue of judicial bypass came up during an audience Q&A at the end of the formal forum, as part of a question asked by local attorney Tom Wieder.

Judicial Bypass: Statutory Background

In the state of Michigan, the judicial bypass is an option for minors who are not able to obtain parental permission to have an abortion. From Act 211 of 1990, it’s the provision in 722.903 Section 3(2):

722.903 Consent to abortion on minor; petition for waiver of parental consent. Section 3.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this act, a person shall not perform an abortion on a minor without first obtaining the written consent of the minor and 1 of the parents or the legal guardian of the minor.
(2) If a parent or the legal guardian is not available or refuses to give his or her consent, or if the minor elects not to seek consent of a parent or the legal guardian, the minor may petition the probate court pursuant to section 4 for a waiver of the parental consent requirement of this section.

For the 22nd Circuit Court, the probate court’s responsibility for such waivers is handled by the family division of the trial court. It’s chief judge Donald Shelton who hears petitions for waivers of the parental consent requirement, with judge Tim Connors serving as alternate. The statute sets forth two criteria for granting a waiver as follows:

722.904 … granting waiver of parental consent; … Section 4
(3) The probate court shall grant a waiver of parental consent if it finds either of the following:
(a) The minor is sufficiently mature and well-enough informed to make the decision regarding abortion independently of her parents or legal guardian.
(b) The waiver would be in the best interests of the minor.

Judicial Bypass: Right to Life of Michigan

Jim Fink is listed on the Right to Life of Michigan’s website as an endorsee, though his campaign website does not include the endorsement. The criteria for endorsement set forth on the RLM website include the following:

Prolife – First and foremost, a candidate must be prolife with no exceptions other than life of the mother. A candidate must also complete a Candidate Questionnaire and agree to a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, effectively establishing personhood from the moment of conception.

In a phone interview with The Chronicle following the Oct. 16 candidate forum, Fink confirmed that he had completed a questionnaire for Right to Life of Michigan, and described his answers to the RLM questions as including the kind of statements he’s made during the campaign – that he’d have to set aside his personal opinion in applying the law. Fink indicated that the material provided with the questionnaire made clear that for judicial candidates, they were not being asked to commit to ruling in a particular way on certain types of cases – because that would be an ethical violation.

In a separate phone interview, David Malone – director of Right to Life of Michigan – indicated to The Chronicle that the endorsement questionnaire sent to judicial candidates was different from the one sent to non-judicial candidates. He described how it’s made clear in the questionnaire materials that candidates are not being asked to say how they’ll rule in a particular case. Malone declined to provide The Chronicle with a copy of the questionnaire, explaining that it’s not made available to non-candidates. Fink deferred to the RLM’s preference that the questionnaire not be disseminated.

Judicial Bypass: Question for Candidates

The WCBA had prepared questions for the candidates covering standard topics like judicial temperament, experience and what led the candidates to consider a career in law. But during the second part of the forum, questions from the audience were entertained as well. The requirement that all questions be suitable for all four candidates led to some grumbling – based in part on the fact that not all four candidates were running against each other.

Local attorney Peter Davis, who indicated he had a question just for Woodyard, responded to moderator Steve Borgsdorf’s enforcement of the rule by saying, “So you want softball questions?” Borgsdorf responded with, “No, they can be fastballs, but everyone’s got to get a chance to bat.” The analogy was apt, as at the time of the forum, the Detroit Tigers baseball team was handing the New York Yankees a 2-1 defeat in the American League Championship Series.

The judicial bypass question from the audience came from local attorney Tom Wieder. The question was pointedly for Fink, but the other three candidates weighed in on the topic of judicial bypasses as well.

Wieder’s windup noted that one of the matters that can come before the circuit court is a so-called “judicial bypass case.” Those are cases where a minor wants to have an abortion and cannot obtain the consent of a parent or guardian, he explained. There have been about 125 of those cases in the last four years, Wieder said, which were decided on the circuit bench. “Mr. Fink, you’ve been endorsed by Right to Life of Michigan, a condition of which is that you agree to oppose abortion except in cases where the life of the mother is at stake. Given that pledge, aren’t you effectively saying to any young woman who came before you in a judicial bypass case, unless her life were endangered, you would not grant a bypass?”

Jim Fink: Fink responded by saying, “Mr. Wieder, I was not asked to pledge anything, or to say what I would do in any particular case.” Fink went on to say that it would, in fact, be unethical for him to do so. “I wasn’t asked the question, sir.” But the statute is pretty clear, Fink stated – a judge has to consider two factors and then make a decision. “I’m going to apply the law and I’m going to follow the law,” he said. Fink noted that he had a lot of pro-choice supporters who trusted him to do just that. Wieder came back to the Right to Life of Michigan endorsement and cited the text on that organization’s website, which explains how a candidate would have to indicate that they wouldn’t support abortion except to save the life of the mother. Fink responded with: “I can tell you I was not asked that question.”

Carol Kuhnke: She described it as a difficult decision for a young woman to make. For a young woman who has the courage to file that kind of petition – to ask a judge’s permission to have an abortion – she hoped she would have a compassionate and sensitive ear. She said she does not believe in abortion for herself but is adamantly pro-choice.

Introductions

The forum began with the opportunity for each candidate to make some opening remarks.

Carol Kuhnke: She observed that she recognized many of the people in the audience. She began her introduction by reviewing her educational background – she graduated from Milan High School in 1986, making her 44 years old. As an undergrad at the University of Michigan she studied philosophy and the history of art, majoring in both. She obtained her law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of Law. After finishing law school she practiced in Chicago for a couple of years. She missed Michigan tremendously, she said, and was fortunate enough to talk Peter Davis into hiring her as an associate. Shortly after that they became law partners, and they have practiced together for 16 years. So she’s been practicing law for almost 20 years, she said. She has spent all that time trying cases. She enjoys working hard and she enjoys that work.

Carol Kuhnke. (Photo is from the Oct. 10 League of Women Voters candidate forum held in the studios of the Community Television Network.)

Kuhnke is running for judge because she knows that her experience has trained her well to do that job. She knows that judges touch people’s lives, she said – not in the way that the legislature or the executive branch does, but rather one person at a time.

Most people never have to go to court or deal with the judge, she allowed. But when they do, you want the best person as judge – someone who will handle the case with compassion and with respect for the law. She noted that she had been endorsed by a lot of judges – judges in whose courtrooms she’s tried cases. She then listed off several of the judges who had endorsed her. She described judges who had endorsed her as coming from several counties across southeast Michigan where she has tried cases.

Jim Fink: Looking around the room, he said, there are very few people he didn’t know. He described himself as a native of Washtenaw County, born in Beyer Hospital in Ypsilanti. He graduated from Eastern Michigan University and the Detroit College of Law. He attended law school while he was a police officer working full-time. He attended classes sometimes during the day and sometimes in the evening, and was able to do that and still graduate summa cum laude, he said.

Fink has been practicing law in private practice for about 14 years, he said. But he’d spent 20 years doing police work before that. In his legal practice, he said, he is in virtually all the courts throughout Washtenaw County. And the judges he appears in front of, and the lawyers that he practices with, have all rated his candidacy highly, he said. Of the 10 local judges who have endorsed in this race – and who will be affected by the outcome of this election – nine have endorsed him, Fink said. The Washtenaw County Bar Association poll, whose respondents are attorneys who will be affected by the result of the election, rated him the highest among the candidates, he noted. Fink was also rated outstanding by the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, he added. “I like to make things better,” he said. He does that in his practice and he would do that as a judge, he said. He loves the community and he loves the law, he said. And that’s why he’s running for judge, he concluded.

Judicial Temperament

Question: What does judicial temperament mean to you? If elected, what type of judicial temperament would you most like to convey?

Jim Fink: When he considers judicial temperament, he thinks about the way judges treat people and make people feel, and how they manage the cases that are before them in the courtroom.

Jim Fink.

What he would like to convey is a sense that the court cares what’s going on, that every one will have his or her day in court and will be heard and treated fairly – and that the outcome of the case will be based on the facts and the law, and not on any inappropriate external factors. Because it was mostly a room full of lawyers at the forum, he felt like he could characterize it as one of those things where you know it when you see it.

Fink felt like everyone in the room knew when they were in the presence of a judge who didn’t have a good judicial temperament. He thought he would be the kind of judge where people left the courtroom believing they received justice and were treated fairly and kindly, regardless of the outcome of the case.

Carol Kuhnke: She felt that judicial temperament has a lot to do with being patient enough to hear what somebody thinks they need to tell you. Sometimes the judge doesn’t need to hear everything that a litigant wants to be heard – but knowing that the judge is going to listen and pay attention and take stock of what’s being said is important. It’s important to lend the right gravitas to the matter that is before the court, she said. Everything that comes before the circuit court is something that is very serious to the person who is there. It might be a matter of who gets custody of the children during holidays, or whether someone goes to prison. Or there might be some disaster in your life that is affecting your ability to earn a living and to feed your children. So lending the right gravitas to the process that is before you is critical to a judicial temperament, she concluded.

Budgetary Challenges

Question: How do you perceive your role as circuit court judge in addressing budgetary challenges?

Carol Kuhnke: Most lawyers in the room, she ventured, would know that Washtenaw County is one of the few counties that was determined to have fewer judges than are actually needed in the circuit court. The Michigan Supreme Court undertook a study of courts around the state and determined that Washtenaw County needed another judge – as opposed to having too many judges, as was the case with some of the other counties in the state. The understanding among the judges on the Washtenaw County circuit court is that the five of them could handle the workload, and they decided not to burden the county and the state with that added expense of adding another judge. So she thinks that the next judge needs to be ready to handle that workload – knowing that according to the state supreme court, five judges are not enough.

The civil docket of the court reflects about half of the cases that are filed, Kuhnke said, but because civil cases are more motion-intensive, they take longer to resolve – so she feels that her experience with civil cases is important. She knows how to move cases long. With 20 years of experience as a trial attorney, she knows that there are ways to manage the docket a little bit better, to help cases resolve earlier – for example, through a more focused discovery program. It might be worth taking another look at a case after three months or six months instead of waiting for a year, she suggested.

Jim Fink: He observed that there are five judges on the circuit court and two probate judges. They are a team, he said, and they work together. And they work out the distribution of the docket. The budgetary concerns are negotiated with the county and judges work as a team in those negotiations as well. As a member of that team, he would work with the other judges, and he would work with the court administrative staff to make the budget the best budget the court can get.

The other part is to do the best you can with what you have, Fink said. He mentioned that furlough days for the staff have helped to save money, but on those furlough days, no work gets done, he noted. So even if the judge is in the office working, the staff is not processing paperwork. Making sure that the workflow for people who are doing the everyday work is the best that it can be will help things be more efficient, he said. It’s important to streamline work for employees so that they’re not duplicating efforts. He mentioned electronic filing as a way to make things more efficient – both for the consumer and for the court staff.

Experience with Types of Law

Question: The current docket for judge Melinda Morris consists of criminal and civil cases, and judge Timothy Connors’ current docket consists of civil and family law matters. The chief judge could reassign those dockets based on the experience and expertise of the judges who are elected. Could each candidate please speak to their experience in each of those types of law and how you feel your experience would help you as a judge on the bench.

Jim Fink: He stated that he has experience in virtually every kind of matter that will come before the circuit court. He’s done civil litigation, and he has a lot of experience with criminal law, both as a police officer and as an attorney. He practices in probate court and in the juvenile court, representing children who have been charged with offenses. He handles injunctive relief for municipalities, when they’re trying to abate a nuisance or defend against municipalities who are trying to stop a client of his from doing something.

Fink practices family law and has experience in pursuing and defending against personal protection orders. While some candidates have more experience than others, he allowed, his is a balanced practice. And his experience goes back further than his 14 years in private practice, and includes the time that he was working for the county as a police officer. He feels that that experience will prepare him to handle anything. He said that someone once told him it’s not so important that someone has done a particular thing, but that they have been successful in the things that they have done.

Carol Kuhnke: Most of her work has been in civil law, she said, but she’s also handled some divorces and some criminal matters. She has done everything that comes before the circuit court, she said. She characterized her civil experience as very solid as far as knowing how to manage that docket. Sometimes the civil cases linger, she said, and take up a lot more time and resources of the court than they need to. She said some cases have been resolved only after 10 years. Moving those cases along faster would be good for the civil docket – and that would also benefit the criminal docket, because it would free up judges’ time.

Kuhnke said she has a lot of experience with land use, pointing out her experience serving for 12 years on the zoning board of appeals for the city of Ann Arbor. She was appointed to that position initially by then-mayor Ingrid Sheldon and made chair of the zoning board of appeals by mayor John Hieftje. She’s also worked in the probate court with minors and people who are not competent, and has worked in the probate courts to work out what needs to be done in order to allow the case to move forward in the circuit court.

Experience with Trials

Question: What is your experience as a trial attorney? What’s your experience in civil versus criminal trials and bench versus jury trials?

Carol Kuhnke: She indicated no experience in criminal trials, but said she’d tried civil cases since she was licensed to practice law. The first trial she had was in 1994 in Chicago. She was given a file and sent to court, she had to try the case on her own. She was representing a young man, an eight-year-old boy, who was injured on city of Chicago property. The last trial she’d had was last month in Hillsdale, where she defended a nurse who’d been accused of malpractice.

Kuhnke has been trying cases all of her career – and all of them have been jury trials, she said. But some had a bench trial aspect to them. When you sue an entity that’s part of the state of Michigan, the case goes to the Court of Claims – the judge will decide the case against the state and the jury will decide the case against any individuals. So sometimes she has tried cases that have a bench trial and jury trial going on at the same time. She has tried cases all over southeast Michigan, she said.

Jim Fink: Like Kuhnke, most of his trial work has been civil as well, he said. Most of them have been bench trials. He’s also had criminal trials. He’s handled matters that have not gone to trial – involving injunctions or restraining orders or appeals from the district court. He suggested that he has had a unique view of trials, as the officer in charge or a witness in dozens, if not hundreds, of felony and misdemeanor trials. As a police officer, he has watched trials unfold in a different way than most lawyers observe a trial.

Vocation to the Field of Law

Question: Why are you a lawyer? Why did you choose this profession? As part of your answer, identify a mentor or a role model who ought to be credited with where you are today.

Jim Fink: He began by identifying a role model: “My dad.” His father, Bob Fink, had been a lawyer and a judge in Washtenaw County, and his brother Karl also had been a judge, he said. He then addressed an issue that he’d been hearing, which was: “Fink thinks he’s entitled to this because his father and older brother were judges.” That’s not the case, Fink stated. He’s earned the support he has. Nobody earned the ratings from the Washtenaw County Bar Association except for him. No one got the endorsements of the other judges in the county, except for him. But he said that his father and his older brother were great influences on him.

His brother was a lot older than he is, Fink said, and as a little kid he grew up loving the idea of being a lawyer. “I became a cop, because I wasn’t going to class.” You don’t get to be a lawyer without a law degree, he noted, and you don’t get to go to law school without an undergraduate degree and he wasn’t doing those things. So he took a little side trip, and when he matured a little bit he went back to school and pursued his original dream. He loved police work and enjoyed it, but practicing law was the thing that he planned to do as a kid.

Carol Kuhnke: Her parents are not lawyers, she began, adding that she did not interpret the question as a slam against Fink. She became a lawyer as a natural progression from her study of philosophy as an undergrad, she said. She noted that some people feel like you have to do something else if you major in philosophy – but she found philosophy to be such an intriguing discipline, and she loved studying problems and solving problems and understanding how words work, and interpreting the law.

It was a philosophy professor of hers, Louis Loeb, who told her that she ought to be a lawyer. “It’s his fault that I became a lawyer!” she quipped. As far as someone who’s inspired her, or who has been a mentor, she identified Michigan Supreme Court justice Alton Thomas Davis. [Davis has endorsed Kuhnke.] She knew him as a circuit court judge, and knew him when he was a judge on the court of appeals, and as a supreme court justice. She found him to be an incredible scholar of the law. He’s someone who knows and understands people. He’s someone who understands the power and the obligation of the court and its effect on people’s lives. She called him a wonderful human being and she hoped that she could be like him.

Argument for Yourself, Against Opponent

Question: What do you see in yourself – in quality or experience – that you would bring to the bench that’s either absent in your opponent or that you’d be better at than your opponent. What’s unique to you that you would bring?

Carol Kuhnke: She said her experience is much deeper than Fink’s. Not every case goes to trial, she said, but you have to work every case as if it’s going to trial. Another key difference that she identified: “I’m a woman.” There’s been one woman to sit on the circuit court bench, she noted, and that’s Melinda Morris. Morris is retiring, and out of the five circuit court judges, Kuhnke feels that there is room for a woman as one of them. She would not ask anyone to vote for her just because she’s a woman, she said. She feels like her experience and her character justify a vote for her.

The Women Lawyers Association had rated her outstanding for the job, Kuhnke noted. If it’s a draw between the two candidates – and she doesn’t think it is – she still feels like there is room to vote for a woman, so that there will be a woman’s voice represented on the court. As a trial attorney, she’s spent many hours and days on end in court or in depositions where she is the only woman in the room except for the court reporter. A lot of times she is mistaken for the court reporter, she said. She ventured that judge Morris herself has probably had the same kind of experience when she attends judicial conferences. A woman’s voice is important in all matters of society, she said.

Jim Fink: He stated that he’s not interested in doing a comparison to say why somebody should not vote for Carol Kuhnke. But he said there are some things that he felt had generated such broad support for him. People trust him to follow the law, he said, and to put personal feelings aside, and to leave politics out of the courtroom, to work hard and to do the job. For people who’ve been following the race at all, he said they know that his support comes from across the political spectrum. He cited his support from public defender Lloyd Powell and county prosecutor Brian Mackie. He noted that he’d also been rated outstanding by the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan. He was gratified that they’d done that because the easy, default position would have been to say that the man rates lower than the woman, he said.

Election Information

These candidates will be on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website. Additional information about local candidates and other voter information is available on the Washtenaw county clerk’s elections division website.

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Mike Henry, co-chair of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, moderated a June 23 judicial forum for the 22nd Circuit Court, hosted by the Washtenaw County Democratic Party. (Photos by the writer.)

The fourth incumbent – Tim Connors of the 22nd Circuit Court – is facing Mike Woodyard, an Ann Arbor resident and attorney in the Wayne County prosecutor’s office.

Another position on the 22nd Circuit Court is currently held by judge Melinda Morris, who is ineligible for re-election because of her age. The state constitution requires that judicial candidates at the time of election must be younger than 70 years old. The race for that non-incumbent judicial seat is a crowded one, with four candidates: Erane Washington, Doug McClure, Carol Kuhnke and Jim Fink. All four will be on the Aug. 7 primary ballot as non-partisan candidates, with the top two vote-getters facing off on Nov. 6.

On June 23, the Washtenaw County Democratic Party held a judicial candidate forum in Pittsfield Township hall. A previous Chronicle report covered the panel with Connors and Woodyard, as well as a presentation by 46th District Court judge Shelia Johnson, one of three Michigan Supreme Court candidates endorsed by the state Democratic Party.

This report focuses on the four-way non-incumbent race for 22nd Circuit Court. Questions covered a wide range of issues, including metrics for evaluating judicial performance, views on significant Michigan Supreme Court decisions, and descriptions of each candidate’s judicial philosophy and temperament.

Circuit court judges are elected to six-year terms and run as non-partisan candidates. But partisan politics was a significant part of this panel discussion, spurred in part by a handout had been placed on chairs in the audience prior to the start of the forum, titled ”What Washtenaw Democrats Should Know About Jim Fink.” [.pdf of handout text] At the start of the forum, Cleveland Chandler, chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, announced that the WCDP had nothing to do with the handout, and the other three candidates made that same claim.

Some of the questions posed to candidates – specifically related to reproductive rights and the right for gay couples to adopt – highlighted the differences between Fink and the other candidates. With his Republican affiliations, Fink acknowledged during the forum that if this were a legislative race, ”you would not even think about voting for me.” But he vowed to follow the law and set aside his personal views as a judge, and noted that he has broad support from both parties, as well as ”people who don’t care about partisan politics at all.”

While not mentioning Fink directly, the other candidates noted that values do inform judicial decisions, and implied or stated directly that their positions on issues would align with those of Democrats.

In very broad strokes, circuit courts are the highest type of trial court in Michigan, handling felony criminal cases and civil cases involving amounts over $25,000. There are 57 circuit courts in Michigan. Locally, the 22nd Circuit Court is more commonly known as the Washtenaw County Trial Court, and includes two divisions: criminal/civil and family. The family division includes the juvenile court, probate court, and Friend of the Court program.

Mike Henry, co-chair of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party, moderated the panel with questions written in advance by the audience.

This report organizes the questions thematically, but gives the candidate responses in the order they were presented.

Opening Statements

Jim Fink began by thanking the Democratic Party for inviting him to participate. He said he’s a lifelong resident of Washtenaw County, and grew up in Ypsilanti. He lives in the same neighborhood where his father opened a law office in the 1950s and where he and his wife raised their six kids. He’s been an attorney since 1987, after going to law school while working in the county sheriff’s department where he served for almost 22 years. He started as an hourly marine deputy, and retired as a police services division commander, spending most of his career in Ypsilanti Township.

As an attorney, Fink said he represents municipalities and small businesses, some criminal defendants, and real estate transactions. He said he has broad experience and broad support from Republicans, Democrats, and “people who don’t care about partisan politics at all.”

Erane Washington, candidate for 22nd Circuit Court judge, talks to Democratic Party activist Tom Bletcher at the June 23 judicial forum.

Erane Washington introduced herself as a University of Michigan law school graduate. Although she said she’s not a lifelong resident, she’s lived here since she was 11, going to school at Bryant Elementary, Scarlett Middle School and Huron High. She’s a first-generation college graduate – of Michigan State University – and a first-generation law school graduate.

Washington has been practicing law since 1993, with a diverse background of practice. That includes handling a lot of criminal defense work as a public defender for seven years. She then worked as a judicial attorney [for judge Donald Shelton] for another seven years, and more recently has been in private practice for the past five years. In the past two years her firm has handled over 700 cases, she said. Washington is past president of the Washtenaw County Bar Association, and noted that she has broad-based support.

Carol Kuhnke also told the crowd that she had lived in Washtenaw County most of her life, and grew up in Milan. She has lived in Ann Arbor for 16 years, and has practiced law for 18 years, pursuing justice for her clients in court, she said. It’s a great occupation and she’s passionate about it, Kuhnke said. She’s come to appreciate that the court is a place where everyone should have an equal voice. It should be the equalizer, but it isn’t always as perfect as it could or should be, she noted.

Kuhnke is seeking the position as judge because she knows she can help make the system a little more perfect, and can help a few more people achieve the justice that is promised to them by the law. She noted that she’s served on the Ann Arbor zoning board of appeals for 12 years, and also has served on the county board of election canvassers. Kuhnke mentioned that she has two children. She pointed to her endorsements by the UAW, several justices and judges, community leaders, and “a lot of the people in this room.”

Doug McClure said he was happy to be among Democratic friends, since he’d just come off of the first week of a two-week citizens lawsuit against a corporate polluter for a site in Saline. It’s been exhausting, he said. The judge in that case is a strong Republican and anti-EPA person, he said. The judge is fair, he added, but took a lot of convincing. McClure said he loves the law and has been practicing here for 22 years. He loves this community, and lives in Lima Township. He serves on the Washtenaw County brownfield redevelopment authority board, and is director at large for the Washtenaw County Bar Association. He’s also co-chair of the association’s public service committee. He teaches at Cooley Law School in Ann Arbor.

Every judge is sometimes assigned cases on issues that they don’t know much about, McClure said. So you need judges with agile, active minds, who want to understand what’s in front of them and who share your values – because in hard cases, he said, those values will inform their decisions. “I’m going to bring that to the bench,” he said.

Questions: Judicial System

Several questions posed by the moderator, Mike Henry, related specifically to the judicial system, including court decisions, the role of social service agencies, and possible metrics for evaluating judicial performance.

Some courts have adopted metrics to rate the quality of the judicial system. The state court administrative office is looking at such proposals. Is that a good idea? If so, which metrics are most important?

Washington: It’s very important to have a measurement system. Now, the focus is on whether cases proceed in an efficient manner, she said. Other than the public defense system, there’s not a review of whether the outcome is fair and just. Washington suggested finding a way to seek feedback from litigants about how they were treated in court. Another approach is to get information about pro se and pro per claims, as to whether they were handled fairly. Efficiency is very important, she said, but so is the outcome. It’s important that people feel they’ve been heard while they’ve been part of the judicial process.

Kuhnke: Saying she wasn’t familiar with the details of the proposal that had been mentioned, Kuhnke said it sounded very dangerous to her. The court of appeals is the place where incorrect decisions are corrected. The judicial tenure commission is the place to handle situations in which a judge has acted inappropriately, she said. The Michigan Supreme Court has handed down rules that limit judges’ ability to control their dockets. One example requires that every case be resolved within a year, or the judge is looked at harder by the supreme court’s administrative office, she said. That’s not the right way to manage the docket.

There are ways to help the court work more effectively and quickly, Kuhnke said, but to say that every case must be dealt with within a year doesn’t give a judge the proper authority, she said. Judges are elected, and their decisions are reviewed by the court of appeals and supreme court – and that’s where the review should be, she said.

McClure: An organization in this community – the Michigan League of Conservation Voters – did a study called the Green Gavels, McClure said, which focused on the environment. A University of Michigan law professor [David Uhlmann] and his students, along with MLCV staff, analyzed cases for the public – because people don’t generally read supreme court cases unless they’re having trouble sleeping, he joked. You can see how “green” judges are, based on their rulings. Those metrics are important, he said, and it’s a great project.

Fink: Saying he mostly agreed with Washington, Fink added that it’s important to monitor things, but there are a couple of concerns. The effectiveness and efficiency of a court are important, but each case is different. When a judge can’t move his or her docket, that can be a problem for the litigants – cases get backed up, and people are delayed in getting justice. On the other hand, some cases take longer.

Fink referred to an earlier panel with judge Tim Connors, who had mentioned a class action case that took 15 years to resolve. Part of the problem with metrics is knowing what to measure and how to give weight to those measurements, Fink said. It’s fine to collect data and use it, but you have to be careful about what you collect and what you do with that information.

What’s the proper role of social service agencies within the court system and how would you engage them?

Washington: Social service agencies play a valuable role in many areas, she said. The most important area is in the juvenile justice system, where such agencies play a role in helping parents and children as they go through that process. Agencies also play an important role in the criminal defense process, she said. Many people who are indigent come through the system, and have no means of complying with the orders they’ve been given. Social service agencies can help provide resources to comply, or at least send them in the right direction. These agencies are also important for dealing with mental health issues and drug addiction, Washington said, as well as for people who are in divorce court and need resources.

Kuhnke: Social service agencies are an important counterpart to a lot of the things that the court does, Kuhnke said, and Washtenaw County is fortunate to have the county board of commissioners’ strong support of social services. Everything is suffering from cuts, she noted, and everyone is looking to see how they can help a little more. The court is a great place to help people find the social services that they need and to make good use of everything that’s available. That’s important for litigants, victims – pretty much every individual who comes in contact with the court, she said.

From left: Doug McClure, candidate for 22nd Circuit Court judge, talks with local attorney Tom Wieder.

McClure: He agreed that social service agencies are very important. He said when he volunteered for the public defender’s office in judge Cedric Simpson’s courtroom, McClure was very impressed with how Simpson tried to make available opportunities for people to get out of the cycle of being in the criminal justice system. Simpson tried to get at the root of what some of the problems might be, McClure said, and would encourage people to take classes at Washtenaw Community College, for example.

As far as drug problems, which McClure noted is the source of a lot of crime, there are some good organizations locally that can help. A judge has the option of not bringing up that possibility, he said, or can make it a condition of probation and require it – if the goal is to get a person out of the criminal justice system. McClure also said he thinks that lawyers can do a lot in this regard.

Lawyers are supposed to do pro bono work, as a service to society, McClure said. As a director of the county bar association and on the public service committee, McClure said his efforts have been focused on that. He urged people to go online and look at the articles he’s written on that topic. [For example, a column by McClure was published in the Jan. 23, 2012 issue of the Washtenaw Legal News, titled: "Pro Bono Work Helps Us All."]

Fink: A lot of work with social service agencies happens at the district court level, not at the circuit court, Fink said, although circuit court judges are involved in criminal cases and sometimes family law. He cited some of the agencies he’s involved with, including the nonprofit Dawn Farm, where people can get counseling and treatment while they’re under probation to the drug court in the 15th District Court. [Fink serves on the Dawn Farm board of directors.] He said he’s also on the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment board, which administers state funds to programs statewide, including SafeHouse Center in Ann Arbor. Fink also mentioned that in Washtenaw County, there’s a program called JPORT – the Justice Project Outreach Team, where mental health workers will accompany people to court and help them through probation.

Which opinion of the Michigan Supreme Court in the last 20 years has been the most significant for Michigan jurisprudence, in a negative or positive way?

Fink: Noting that he’s “kind of a process and fairness guy,” Fink said the case that came to mind didn’t relate to a big case regarding the substance of law – it concerned process. [Maiden v. Rozwood] It wasn’t groundbreaking, but it clarified the issue of summary disposition, Fink said. Summary disposition means that a judge decides a case before it gets to a jury, Fink explained, based on the undisputed facts and the law. In this case, the Michigan Supreme Court clarified the rules of summary disposition and gave clear direction to the trial court judges and attorneys about when it’s appropriate for a judge to make that decision.

Washington: There are many significant cases, Washington noted, but she highlighted Kreiner v Fischer, which she said determined that if you’re injured in a car accident, you have to show that it substantially affected your livelihood. It had tremendous impact on the civil process, in terms of determining who could get past the summary disposition stage. For many people, it curtailed their right to have a civil case for auto negligence. That’s one of the most important cases, she said.

From right: Carol Kuhnke, candidate for 22nd Circuit Court judge, and Margaret Connors, a member of the Ann Arbor Democratic Party leadership and wife of Tim Connors, incumbent candidate for another seat on the 22nd Circuit Court.

Kuhnke: Alluding to the previous 22nd Circuit Court forum between Tim Connors and Mike Woodyard, Kuhnke said she wanted to speak to the issue of summary disposition. [Woodyard had stated that the majority of cases were handled through summary disposition, rather than a jury trial.] Kuhnke said she found that view to be patently wrong. The subtext of that view is that more than 50% of the cases are filed by lawyers who are filing frivolous cases, she said. That’s not so. Summary disposition should be an extraordinary remedy, she said.

To answer the question at hand, she said, there are so many cases that have come out of the Michigan Supreme Court in the last 20 years that have determined a person has no right to a jury, that it’s hard for her to say which one more significantly affected our judiciary and the rights of individuals in Michigan. Kreiner is one – and that case, she explained, involved a man who had multiple fractures in his spine and had not worked for six months. He was a builder who could no longer climb a ladder to get to a roof. When he ultimately got back to work, he could only work 4-6 hours a day. Yet the court ruled that he had no right to recover from the driver who rear-ended him and broke his back.

McClure: The case he cited was Lansing Schools Education Association v. Lansing School Board and Lansing School District. [The case restored a doctrine of legal "standing" that provides discretion to a court to determine that someone has standing to sue "... if the litigant has a special injury or right, or substantial interest, that will be detrimentally affected in a manner different from the citizenry at large or if the statutory scheme implies that the Legislature intended to confer standing on the litigant."]

In Michigan there are several statutes that use the words “any person may sue” – sometimes they’re called citizens suits, McClure said. The Michigan Environmental Protection Act is very broad in that respect. In the past, any person meant any person, he said. But the Michigan Supreme Court previously took that away. And as an indication of how political things can be, he said, when the political balance on court shifted, “we got that right back.” It’s an access to justice case, he said.

Questions: Personal Values, Political Leanings

A range of questions focused on personal qualifications, as well as each candidate’s position on certain issues like reproductive rights and political affiliations.

Why do you want to be a judge?

McClure: Until he can add value to the community overall, McClure said he didn’t think he could consider himself a success. He said he’s started to do that over the last 10 years in his practice and volunteer work. In addition to teaching and working with the Washtenaw County Bar Association, McClure said he takes cases from legal aid. As an example, he said he helped a woman who was losing her house to tax foreclosure.

A couple of years ago, he also volunteered with the public defender’s office, McClure said. “I want to bring that type of commitment to the bench.” Your shot at getting justice happens at the trial court level, he said, because most people can’t afford the cost to appeal a case. Through ways that might not be noticed, a trial court judge makes small decisions based on their values, he said, and that affects the outcome of a case.

Fink: He said he wants to be a judge because he loves public service, he loves the law and he loves this community. His experience as a police officer, a lifelong resident of Washtenaw County, and as an attorney gives him a unique set of skills for this position. He said he thinks that’s why he’s supported by such a wide variety of people, from Republicans to Democrats to people who don’t care about politics.

Washington: She noted that she’s a first-generation attorney. Her father wanted to be a lawyer, but he didn’t make it past eighth grade. So she decided that she wanted to be a lawyer. She’s seen that there are areas that need improvement, and that she can add value to the system. She had heard some complaints, and at some point decided that she needed to step up and do something. She said she thinks she can help to add integrity to the system. She believes she can help the system so that everyone can be heard. She wants the community to have access to resources. She wants to bring fairness to all people. Washington said she believes she can add diversity for the community that’s needed on the bench at this time.

Kuhnke: She said she’s spent 18 years pursuing justice for her clients through the court. She’s gone from thinking that being a judge is the most boring job to thinking it’s the most exciting. The court has a tremendous opportunity to impact people’s lives. It doesn’t have anything to do with being fair or unfair, or biased, but it’s knowing that the court affects people’s lives in such a deep way, she said.

A judge should ensure that people who come before you are heard, understood, and treated as individuals and human beings, Kuhnke said. You should provide the very highest level of justice possible to the people in your court, and understand who they are and where they came from. Kuhnke also believes diversity is important in the court, as well as in all levels of leadership in government. She said she looks forward to being the next judge of the circuit court.

Which judges do you admire?

McClure: He said he’s impressed with how much judge Cedric Simpson [of the 14th District Court in Washtenaw County] cares about people as they work through probation. McClure also cited U.S. Supreme Court justice Earl Warren, noting that Warren was a Republican governor in California before he was appointed to the court. Not only did he rule on the separate-but-equal decision of Brown v. Board of Education, but he got a 9-0 decision, “and that was his doing,” McClure said. And Warren wrote a decision that people could read – you could read it in a junior high school class from beginning to end, and understand it, McClure said. That’s one reason why the decision has permeated our society. Those are skills he greatly admires, McClure said.

Fink: In his office, Fink said he has a transcript of a case that’s being appealed to the Michigan Court of Appeals. Throughout the transcript, the judge addresses Fink’s opponent as “sir” or “Mr.” And when the judge asks the court staff for something, he says “Would you please get me this” and then says “thank you.” The person who lost the case went away knowing that he had been heard and treated respectfully. The judge happens to be judge Connors, Fink said. [Tim Connors, an incumbent running for re-election on the 22nd Circuit Court, had spoken on a panel earlier in the forum with his opponent, Mike Woodyard.] It was a case that Fink said he thought was frivolous, but the person got his day in court and was treated with great respect.

Fink also said he agreed with McClure about judge Simpson, saying that Simpson takes a personal interest in each case, whether it’s criminal or civil. Everyone who leaves his court knows that they’ve been heard and respected, Fink said, and that’s important. Later, Fink added that he admires his “big brother” Karl Fink, a former 22nd Circuit Court judge, and his father Robert Fink, who was a district court judge.

Washington: There are several people she respects, starting with judge Melinda Morris, because Morris was the first woman to serve on the circuit court in Washtenaw County. Washington also said she admires judge Donald Shelton. She knows that some people don’t like him and she understands that, but she admires him because he’s a very analytical and smart man. “He gave me an opportunity, and that’s why I’m sitting here today,” Washington said. She also admires judge Nancy Wheeler, the first female African American judge to be appointed to the Washtenaw County probate court – so Wheeler paved the way for her, Washington said.

Washington admires judge Tim Connors. She had her first bench trial in his courtroom, and he was very kind and considerate to her. Washington also mentioned Betty Widgeon, a former 14A1 District Court judge who was in the audience and had given Washington advice about running a judicial campaign. Finally, Washington cited U.S. Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall, saying that but for him, “none of us would be here today.”

Kuhnke: Her favorite judge in Michigan is justice Marilyn Kelly of the Michigan Supreme Court. Kuhnke said she’s sad for the residents of Michigan, who’ll be losing a terrific jurist this year due to an archaic law that prevents her from running again after she turns 70. “We all know that we’re productive and able to do the job long after 70.”

The flip side is that the same rule that’s removing justice Kelly is the one that’s allowing all four candidates of the open 22nd Circuit Court to be there today, Kuhnke said – that judge Melinda Morris isn’t allowed to run because she’s turned 70. In terms of local judges, Kuhnke said the county is lucky to have a very good circuit court bench. “I don’t always agree with all of them, but that’s the law and that’s litigation and that’s how it goes,” she said.

Tim Connors is one of the best judges in Michigan, Kuhnke said. She noted that when he handled the long and difficult trials for the female prisoners’ lawsuit against the state Dept. of Corrections, not only did he lose sleep, but he would throw up before going to court in the morning, she said. That demonstrates a deep passion for the law and for justice, she said. “I hope that I can be that good.”

How would you describe your judicial temperament and philosophy, and how do you stand out?

Kuhnke: The judiciary is co-equal with the executive and legislative branches, she said, and it’s not often given the respect that it deserves in terms of people knowing what goes on in the courts and who their judges are. The fact that so many people came to this forum on a beautiful Saturday in June is wonderful, she said. As far as her judicial temperament, her colleagues would describe her as calm, cool, collected and kind, she said. Those are the right qualities in a judicial temperament, she added – someone who is patient, who can listen and be considerate, and who can ensure that everybody is heard.

McClure: What he would bring to the bench is independence, he said. McClure said he’s not beholden or tied to a particular  individual or interest group. That’s very important, he said. He described his temperament as one of patience, interest and curiosity about a case to get the right result. His philosophy is “Do the right thing.”

Fink: His judicial philosophy is that a judge should follow the law, even if the judge disagrees with the law. A judge is bound by the law and should apply it to the facts of the case, he said. His judicial temperament is that everyone should have equal justice under the law, Fink said. The best way that people can see how his temperament would be to ask people who knew his work as a police officer. He said he was known to be someone who is respectful, even to people he had to arrest or charge with crimes. Someone’s station in life should not make a difference as to how they’re treated. Everyone is entitled to respect and equal treatment under the law, he said.

Washington: Her judicial philosophy is that a judge has to follow the law. You apply the facts to the law, she said, and you reach a conclusion. You need to try to be as fair to everyone as possible. Her temperament is to make sure that the process is completely fair to everyone, whether it’s an individual or someone representing a corporation. Everyone needs to understand that they’ll be heard in court. Washington said she’ll be patient and kind, but there will be times when she needs to be direct.

Have you ever been disciplined, suspended, or disbarred from the practice of law, reprimanded by the attorney general, or brought before an attorney grievance commission?

All four candidates answered the same way: No.

Do you support a woman’s constitutional right to have an abortion?

Kuhnke: She responded by saying she is the product of an unplanned pregnancy when her mother was 19 – Kuhnke said she’s grateful her mother didn’t abort her. She’s also the parent of two adopted children whose parents didn’t want to raise them. She said she’s adamantly pro-choice.

McClure and Washington both said they are pro-choice.

Fink: Most people in the room would classify him as pro-life, Fink said. As a judge, he’d follow the law. The question had been phrased in an important way, he said – in that it’s a constitutional right, according to the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s not up to a judge to make the law or insert his or her personal opinions into things. “We have to follow the law,” Fink said. “That’s what I’ll do.”

Would you accept a campaign contribution from an organization like Right to Life or any group that opposes a woman’s right to choose?

Fink was the only candidate who answered yes.

Jim Fink’s political contributions are described in a handout that was distributed today. Where do your values lie in terms of supporting political candidates?

[By way of background, before the start of the June 23 forum, a one-page handout had been placed on the audience chairs, titled "What Washtenaw Democrats Should Know About Jim Fink." (.pdf of handout text) At the start of the forum, Cleveland Chandler, chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, announced that the WCDP had nothing to do with the handout.]

From left: Cleveland Chandler, chair of the Washtenaw County Democratic Party, talks with Jim Fink, a candidate for 22nd Circuit Court judge.

Fink: He began by joking that if he ever reaches a point when he needs someone to write his biography, he might hire whoever wrote the handout. There are things in it that Fink said he didn’t know or had forgotten about. It’s incomplete, though, he said. Those who know him also know that he has supported Democratic candidates often, he said, including some people in this room, both financially and publicly.

Now that he’s a candidate for judge, there won’t be any partisan signs in his yard, Fink said, but he didn’t think there’s been an election cycle in the last 20 years when there wasn’t at least one Democratic sign in his yard. Two years ago, he supported Dave Rutledge. Four years ago, there was a Jerry Clayton sign in his yard, and there may have been others, Fink said. [Rutledge won a race for state representative in District 54; Clayton won the race for county sheriff. Both are Democrats.]

Those who know him also know that he’s been associated with the Republican Party, Fink said. If you didn’t know that, you could read the handout, he joked – it’s partially true. If you look at his website, you’ll see he’s supported by many prominent Democrats, Fink said. The reason is that people understand that judicial races aren’t legislative races, he said, “and they trust me.” On his website, he said, you’ll see pro-choice Democrats, Republicans and people who don’t care about politics. People trust him to set aside his personal opinions and follow the law, Fink said, which is what each candidate has to do, no matter which one of them is elected judge. He thanked Mike Henry for the opportunity to respond, and received a round of applause.

Have others supported Republicans?

Washington and Kuhnke: Both said they had nothing to do with the literature on the chairs, and had not supported any Republican candidates.

McClure: He began by saying “I’m not crazy about this whole question – Jim’s a good man and it’s a little too personal.” He said he votes Democrat and has been a lifelong Democrat.

Fink joked that McClure didn’t say he hadn’t distributed the handout, which drew laughter from the crowd. McClure replied, “I didn’t put that out.” Mike Henry noted that McClure also hadn’t answered whether he has supported Republican candidates. “Not that I remember,” McClure said. “You can check my voting records.”

Regarding the adoption of children by same sex parents: In Washtenaw County, we haven’t allowed two same-sex individuals to adopt. How would you deal with this in your courtroom?

Kuhnke: Same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt, she said. It’s important to encourage people to adopt, and to allow any committed couple to have a child. Kuhnke said she currently represents one of the partners in a same-sex relationship. The couple is trying to get both of their names on their child’s birth certificate. One partner was the egg donor, and the other woman carried and delivered the child. Only the mother who carried the child is listed on the birth certificate. The other biological parent hasn’t been allowed to have her name on the certificate, even though the couple is raising the child together in a committed relationship, Kuhnke said. That’s wrong – courts should allow same-sex adoptions, she said.

McClure: He believes same-sex adoptions should be allowed and encouraged. If a child can be placed in a loving relationship – “whether it’s lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, whatever,” he said – there shouldn’t be any legal impediment. If there is, he hoped the legislature would do something about it.

Fink: In Washtenaw County, same-sex adoptions are not currently allowed by court rule, he noted. If the law changes, he said, he would follow the law. If the law allows it, he would not prohibit it.

Washington: Same-sex adoptions should be allowed, she said, but at this point the rule in Washtenaw County is that they can’t be allowed. There was a time when it was allowed, she noted. That’s why voters should be very aware of who they elect as a judge, she said, because judges have the ability to speak with Michigan Supreme Court justices and administrators and set out rules that are specific to a court that would prevent this from happening. That’s what happened in this county, she said.

Some of the local judges lobbied to prevent same-sex marriages, Washington said. So it’s important that citizens are aware that the personal views of judges do affect outcomes in the court. She would support same-sex adoptions if it were to return as an option for the court.

Closing Statements

The panel concluded with closing statement from each candidate.

Fink: “You would not even think about voting for me if this was a state rep race,” Fink said. “I understand that, but it’s not.” It’s a judicial race, and he’s said he’s supported by many Democrats, including pro-choice Democrats, because they trust him to be someone who will follow the law and set his personal opinions aside. He noted that Janis Bobrin is an honorary co-chair of his campaign. [Bobrin, a Democrat, is the long-time county water resources commissioner.] Lore Rogers, a former ACLU litigation chair and an opponent of his brother Karl Fink 18 years ago, is working on his campaign, Fink said.

Fink told people that if they look at the list of supporters on his website, they’ll see he has broad support, which is what a judge should have. A judge should not be political, he said. A sitting judge told him recently that no matter what path a judge takes to the bench – whether appointed by a Republican governor, a Democratic governor, or elected – it stops at the bench and everyone gets equal treatment. “That’s my pledge,” Fink concluded, “and I’m asking for your support and your trust in that position.”

Washington: She said she was honored to be there, and honored to have the support of many people in the audience. It’s been a long haul to get to this point, she said. She’s qualified, and passionate about justice in this county. If elected, she’d set aside any Democratic leanings and apply the law fairly to each individual. She thanked the Teamsters, the 15th Congressional District Democratic Organization, and former Michigan Supreme Court justice Conrad Mallett for endorsing her. She also thanked her significant other who was in the audience, and her children, ages 16 and 22, for supporting her. “I hope to see you on the campaign trail, and I hope to get your vote.”

Kuhnke: She said she’s very excited to be running for circuit court judge. It’s an exciting race and exciting time in Washtenaw County, because it’s been so long since a new judge has been elected by the people. [Other judges were initially appointed, then subsequently re-elected as incumbents.] This is our opportunity, she said. Judge Melinda Morris is the only judge sitting on the 22nd Circuit Court who was originally elected to her seat, Kuhnke noted. The rest of the judges were appointed by governors.

No disrespect to judge Connors, Kuhnke added, but it’s nice once in a while to have a judge selected by the people. She said she’s worked for the people for 18 years, in Washtenaw County, Livingston County, Lenawee County, and many other Michigan counties, as well as all over the state of Illinois. She said she’s the people’s candidate. The judiciary is the third branch of government that belongs to the people, where the people come in and are heard and understood, and cared for in a fair way, she said. “That’s what the court should be, and that’s what I intend to do as a circuit court judge.”

McClure: God bless everyone who came out on a beautiful day to spend two hours hearing about summary disposition and things like that, McClure said. He’s grateful, because he wants people to pay attention to this race. The position of judge is one of trust. That judge will make decisions, and the community wants to know they can trust in that judge. “In a room full of Democrats, you can trust that I share your values and also that I know the law,” he said. McClure said he’d work hard to ensure that their values are represented in court and that the law is efficiently and correctly applied in a way that’s compassionate.

McClure also gave a “shout-out” to his wife Catherine McClure, who couldn’t attend the event. She started out as an independent, he said, but he turned her into not only a Democrat, but she now also works on the senate central staff for the 12 “lonely” Democratic senators in Lansing. She works very hard to get Democratic values some voice. McClure noted that the state senate minority leader, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, is one of his supporters. He also cited Mike Garfield [director of the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center] and Congressman Hansen Clark as other supporters, and concluded by thanking everyone for coming.

Election Information

The last day to register to vote for the Tuesday, Aug. 7 primary is July 9, 2012. Information on voter registration can be found on the Washtenaw County clerk’s elections division website. To see a sample ballot for your precinct, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

The last day to register to vote for the Tuesday, Nov. 6 general election is Oct. 9.

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Fink is an Ypsilanti resident who practices law in Ann Arbor at Fink & Valvo PLLC. He has a degree from the Detroit College of Law and served for 20 years in the Washtenaw County sheriff’s office, first as a deputy and ultimately as a police services commander. According to his press release, Fink has served on the Dawn Farm board, the Michigan Domestic Violence Prevention and Treatment board, and the Hope Clinic “One Hope” capital campaign committee, and has provided free legal services to local nonprofits. [.pdf of Fink's resume]

Janis Bobrin, Washtenaw County’s water resources commissioner, and Rich Sheridan, president of Ann Arbor-based Menlo Innovations, are serving as honorary co-chairs for Fink’s campaign.

Fink was not among the candidates for the 22nd circuit court judgeship who attended the Saturday, Jan. 14 meeting of the Ann Arbor City Democratic Party. Candidates who spoke during that meeting included Carol Kuhnke, Erane Washington and Doug McClure.

The circuit court is a trial court of general jurisdiction, including criminal cases like felonies and certain serious misdemeanors, as well as civil cases involving amounts greater than $25,000. Candidates have until May 1 to file their nominating petitions.