This week's column: Who you know or what you know? You be the judge
Don't look now, but a quiet storm is raging ... in a local judicial race.
There may be no Tasers-in-schools impasse or funky commercials set to mariachi bands, but the competition for a Superior Court seat in Guilford County is no less intriguing, or hard-fought.
The civil but aggressive campaign between veteran District Court Judge Susan Bray, 45, and the appointed incumbent, Stuart Albright, 37, raises prickly questions about the role of family ties in judicial selection and how best to select judges in North Carolina. Appointment versus election? Experience versus promise? Diversity versus bloodlines? You be the judge.
Albright, the incumbent, was appointed by Gov. Mike Easley to replace his father, W. Douglas Albright, who retired last year from the judgeship before his term ended. The younger Albright served previously as Guilford County district attorney from 2001 to 2005. He practiced law privately from 1995 to 2001. He says the breadth of his experience has well prepared him to be a judge.
Bray, who also sought the appointment, has served three terms as a District Court judge and worked for seven years as an assistant district attorney. She considers herself "the more qualified, more experienced candidate."
"I like Stuart," she says. But she believes Albright has benefited as much from his name as his credentials. "I have earned the promotion," she wrote in a News & Record questionnaire. "I have never gotten anything because of who my father is. I have not had shortcuts or political favors."
She added, during a joint interview, as Albright sat across the table: "I learned things from the bottom. Stuart started at the top. It's not the same."
Replied Albright: "Every Superior Court judge in Guilford County was appointed just like me. The only difference between me and other judges is who my dad is. There is nothing I can do about my last name and I wouldn't want to do anything about it."
But Bray levies a more serious criticism of Albright: She charges that he sat on the Project Homestead case while district attorney in expectations of being appointed to his father's Superior Court seat. "He got that report in August," she said of an investigation of alleged misuse of city funds by the now-defunct nonprofit homebuilder. "For five months he didn't do anything with it."
Bray went even further in her questionnaire: "The appointee shirked his duties as district attorney in the months leading up to his appointment."
Albright said he did no such thing. He was preoccupied with other cases, he said, four of which involved murders. "As important as the Homestead case was," Albright said, "those murder cases were as well."
As for endorsements, Albright can count among his supporters several heavy hitters in the legal community, including all five living former chief justices of the state Supreme Court. But those chief justices hadn't seen her or Albright in court, Bray shot back in the interview. "I hope the voters are more informed."
Bray said this race illustrates why she favors electing judges over appointing them: It's literally "a good ol' boys club" in which who you know matters more than what you know — and in which males typically receive the appointments.
But both processes have their drawbacks. Voters can make monumentally uninformed choices in selecting judges. Appointees can be influenced by friendships and politics.
Actually, the Albright-Bray race exemplifies probably the best resolution: an appointment and the opportunity for voters to retain the sitting judge or replace him or her. But while District Court appointments at least are made from names recommended by the bar, the governor can appoint whomever he wishes to the Superior Court bench, without input. A better solution might be a selection panel of experts that screens potential appointees, yet even that process wouldn't be totally insulated from political influence.
In an interview Friday, Bray cited the large numbers of judges' children who wind up becoming judges themselves by appointment. "It's not inaccurate to say I'm frustrated."
Meanwhile, voters do have two strong candidates from whom to choose for Superior Court in Guilford County. Both Bray and Albright clearly are qualified.
The question is, who is best qualified?
Comments (1)
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This is a very well written article. I must admit that I do not know anything about Judge Bray. However I do know a great deal about Judge Albright and I cannot think of a more mature and qualified candidate.
My wife has been a close friend of Judge Albright for over 30 years. I have had the privilege of knowing him for over 12 years
As District Attorney he did many things to make that office more efficient in prosecuting criminals. There is one thing that he did that has changed the face of our city and will foster safety and economic development for years to come. As you may know, he led the charge to shut down a number of massage parlors that were fronts for prostitution. This is near and dear to me because one of them was right across the street from my Church!
Judge Albright is very involved in the community and has always been a person that has a heart for all people groups, no matter the skin color or economic level. For example, he and his family have supported an organization that we are involved in for children with special needs.
Judge Albright is fair, thorough and impartial and that these are the qualities that will continue to distinguish him as judge.
Posted on October 19, 2006 2:37 PM