Keep your right to vote for judges
By Stacy Little, Walker, Minn.

Want to make history this election? Not for the sake of just doing so, but for the sake of following and getting back to our Minnesota Constitution which states that judges, “shall be elected by the voters from the area which they are to serve.”

If “we the people” elect Dan Griffith for appellate court judge, we will be making history.
I believe, as Dan Griffith does, judges should be accountable to the people and so “we the people” should know our judges and select them rather than having judges first put into position by political appointment which has always been the case for the court of appeals in Minnesota. Even when appointees have been challenged, an appellate court judge has never lost when up for re-election. Ever.

We make history by telling history, and so his story is this: Dan Griffith and I became friends four years ago. I had e-mailed him and asked his stance on some issues that were important to me. He gave me very straight answers, and then we began to talk about our families.

This year, my vote for appellate court judge goes to Dan Griffith. He is not running against anyone, but trying to communicate the message of accountability to one of the most important positions held in politics, that of a judge.

But maybe even more importantly, he wants to keep our right to vote for our leaders, our judges. And if you can believe it, right now there is a powerful group trying to take our right away to vote for our judges.

The Minnesota Bar Association has actually pulled together what they call “public education” materials to give to lawyers at no cost to them, to go into their respective communities with an agenda that is simply to encourage voters to release their right to vote for their judges. Three branches of government turned into two: Is this still a democracy we live in? And if it’s supposed to be nonpartisan, why then would we have a partisan office holder (the governor) choose our judges?

If you want to know more, check out Dan’s site at www.griffithforjudge.com. Also make sure to check out his wife Debbie’s site too, she is a writer and speaker and hosts a radio program, Everyday Matters — www.debbiegriffith.com.

Make history this year and keep our right to vote.

If you live in Minnesota Dan Griffith is on your ballot.

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