Judicial candidates attend forum
Both candidates for the position of District Court Judge attended the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce candidate forum Thursday.
Eric F. Eller and S. Justin Ray are both running in the Republican primary for North Carolina District Court District 35 Seat 1.
In addition to the District Court, there is also an appeals court seat on North Carolina ballots this year — N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Seat 1. In that race, James Whalen and Christine Walczyk are running in the Democratic primary and Michael Byrne and Matt Smith are running in the Republican primary.
In Thursday’s forum, Eller and Ray contrasted each other’s different experiences in the legal profession. Eller noted that he has more than 30 years’ experience as a lawyer.
“My objective is to be a lawyer’s judge, to allow people to try their cases, to listen, so that everyone feels that they’ve been heard, who will apply the law to the facts, and bring the decisions that resolve disputes, not prolong them,” Eller said.
Ray noted that his professional experience is more varied, in that he ran a business in Avery County for 10 years before he decided to go to law school.
“During the time when I was running that business, I decided I was going back to law school because I was running into all kinds of problems that you just couldn’t find solutions for here in Avery County,” Ray said.
Ray has seven years of experience as a lawyer. In response to a question about priorities if he is elected, Ray indicated that there is a need to increase the public’s trust in the District 35 court.
“I think my top priority in my first year is to build the trust and integrity back in the court system here,” he said. “I want everybody to have faith and confidence that the decisions that come out of our court were made with thought and intellect and actually had some reasoning behind it. So, I abide by our Constitution, and my three qualities I think that are best are my trust and integrity, and I abide by the law and the Constitution.”
Eller was asked to explain how he would maintain transparency and public trust in the court system.
“Well, I think the number one issue with public trust in the judicial system is the belief that people who interact with the judicial system, that they are being heard,” Eller said.
Ray was asked how judges should treat juvenile first-time offenders in juvenile court.
“I think the role of a judge in juvenile court is to make sure that the juveniles understand there are consequences to their actions and that they accept responsibility,” Ray said.
“I think teaching our young folks how to abide by our culture and our rules is very important. So, I think a judge can help reinforce that because they look up to people with authority.”
Eller used one of his two allotted rebuttals to respond to this statement.
“I would like to add to that that one of the things that a judge in this court has to do, and I have done juvenile cases for many, many years — I’ve handled hundreds of juvenile cases — one of the things a judge has to do is they have to make an assessment of this juvenile,” Eller said. “Is this a juvenile that we’re going to see going on forward in adult court, or is this a juvenile that if we deal with him properly here, then we’re not going to see him in court?”
Eller indicated that this is an area where a judge’s personal judgement is important.
“And the fact of the matter is when you’re dealing with juveniles, they are at that point in life where they can go either way,” he said. “And the way the judge assesses them and deals with them may make all the difference in whether this young person turns into a productive citizen or whether they turn into a lifelong criminal.”