Most Gaston County lawyers want voters to keep Judge Jesse Caldwell
People often ask me, “Who should get my vote in the judicial election?” They assume because I am a lawyer, I should know. They are right; I should.
I’m considered qualified to judge, not because of my personal preference for a particular political party’s platform — most people don’t know whether I identify with Republicans (like most of Gaston County) or Democrats (like most of Charlotte) and they don’t care.
They also don’t care where I go to church, whether I play golf, or who I pull for in the Final Four or on the football field. Like most of this great country, even my friends and family disagree on a lot of those issues.
But because my recommendation is based on experience in the courtroom, where a good judge makes hard decisions based on the Constitution and the law, and not on a particular social agenda, I am expected to know who is best suited to be fair and impartial on the bench, where it matters equally to all of us, regardless of our views on religion or politics or baseball.
Ask most lawyers down at the courthouse and they will generally agree on who the best judges are - and that group could disagree on the color of the sky. So, I f you don’t have a lawyer in your family or circle of friends, you may not know who to vote for in a race that used to be non-partisan, and which is an appointed position in most states.
Go with your common sense and find out which candidate has spent more time trying cases in court, or growing up in Gaston County, or performing community service for a civic organization. We should vote for judges based on the candidates’ experience and track records, not on their nominal affiliation with a national political party or a local religious denomination, or a college sports team.
Ask around and you’ll likely discover one candidate is superior in those qualities that make a real difference for all of us. Lawyers with experience down at the courthouse would tell you to keep Judge Jesse Caldwell on the bench in Gaston County. He fits the bill for Superior Court judge, and is the candidate they know from experience in the courtroom both from the bar and the bench. At least if you were to ask me, that’s what I’d tell you.William E. “Bill” Moore Jr. is a resident of Gastonia.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Most Gaston County lawyers want voters to keep Judge Jesse Caldwell
