The original reason for starting Ask Better Questions was a candidate for local district judge who was endorsed by every Police fraternal organization in the coverage area of the court. Kelly Collins is a former prosecutor who obviously sides with the police that brought her cases for 20 years.
In the shadow of the killing of George Floyd I thought I’d ask about why having the endorsement of every police officer union in the 43rd district court’s jurisdiction was considered to be a positive thing when judges are supposed to be impartial. I mean after all, in the unlikely event you ended up defending yourself in her courtroom, would you feel like you were going to get a fair shake if the police officer who cited you’s police union endorsed a candidate for the first time in more than 20 years, and it was your judge they endorsed?
I mean sure, ethical standards dictate that the judge should be fair and impartial, but these people have been her colleagues for years and they’re accusing you of a crime. I challenge anyone to say with a straight face that the police don’t start with a distinct advantage in that scenario.
So Ms Collins did what any reasonable candidate for district judge would do, and deleted my comment without response. I asked why she deleted my comment, and she deleted that comment, then blocked me from her page. (She subsequently deleted and blocked roughly a dozen comments from my friends who asked her similar questions)
So I did what any reasonable citizen would do under those circumstances. I started a SuperPAC so I could ask her a question in a way that she couldn’t ignore.
So I guess the ball’s in her court. What is her plan for maintaining impartiality after a career of working as a prosecutor, with the endorsement of every law enforcement agency that testifies at the court? I’m sure she’ll respond along the lines that there’s no rules against accepting an endorsement by police, and that it’s common. But that doesn’t really answer the question – How can defendants look at that endorsement and feel they’re going to get a fair shake?