Prosecutor supports Judge Fearing

With ballots starting to arrive in mailboxes around the County, I've been receiving questions from many of you about my thoughts on the race for Court of Appeals Judge.

Fewer people vote when the big races aren't on the ballot, and even fewer still vote on judicial races because it can be so challenging to determine who is the best judicial candidate. But a good court of appeals judge is vitally important to our future and our county because the Court of Appeals reviews each and every criminal conviction that comes out of Grant County Superior Court.

In the race for court of appeals judge, the choice is clear. Our current appeals judge George Fearing has years of appellate experience. It appears that His challenger has little or no recent experience with appeals.

Judge Fearing has the temperament needed by a judge, but in dealings with the Prosecutor's Office the same can not definitively be said about his challenger.

Judge Fearing has been vetted by several statewide boards of judicial candidate review and has consistently been rated "qualified" or "well qualified". It does not appear that the same can be said for his challenger.

Possibly most importantly, judge Fearing understands that his role as a judge is not to make law, but to uphold and apply the laws passed by the people.

I will be voting to retain our current Court of Appeals judge, George Fearing, and encourage you to do the same.

D. Angus Lee

Grant County Prosecutor