Slog - Comments on More Name Games in the Supreme Court Race http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s Some bad news for incumbent SC judge Susan Owens. (Owens, a dissenter on last month's DOMA ruling, is a whip smart liberal who's up for reelection this year.) Anyway, the Secretary of State's office decided that on the ballot in her race—which includes candidates: attorney Richard Smith, administrative law judge Norman Ericson, and two guys named Johnson—the Johnsons will be given "descriptors" so that people can distinguish between them. The "descriptors" will say: Stephen Johnson, State Senator, attorney ... and Michael Johnson, attorney. (Stephen Johnson is a hyper conservative state senator from the Auburn/Covington area.) Anyway, the problem for Owens—and... Copyright 2007 Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:50:59 -0800 Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:13:28 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by crack that whip Do you have any particular opinion from Justice Owens in mind that would warrant the "whip smart" sobriquet?

]]> crack that whip http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443042 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443042 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:14:16 -0800 Comment by Willis This is just dumb - can't people read the voters guide? Is it really that difficult to be an informed voter?

]]> Willis http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443051 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443051 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:26:30 -0800 Comment by BC "Descriptors" that are also implicit qualifications for the race in question do seem inappropriate, and quite possibly illegal, even if they were there for everyone.

As far as Willis' questions, "No" and "No", respectively.

]]> BC http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443055 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443055 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:32:07 -0800 Comment by him Isn't there any indication that she's the incumbent?

]]> him http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443057 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443057 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:33:46 -0800 Comment by seattl98104 Why not just use their FIRST NAMES as "Descriptors"?

This action seems highly dubious.

And they wonder why people don't trust the government.

]]> seattl98104 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443058 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443058 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 10:34:44 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle see, I thought most people running for judge were attorneys.

wonder who we'll endorse tonight for the 43rd dems endorsement at the UW HUB at 7 pm. I haven't even seen her questionnaire yet, and I'm on the committee that reads all that boring stuff ahead of time ...

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443126 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443126 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:39:07 -0800 Comment by Watcher Will, are you kidding? Who will the 43rd endorse? Please. Her only real opponent (based on money) is Republican Steve Johnson. She was endorsed by the State Dems. She's the incumbent. She voted against DOMA and for gay marriage. None of the others have any experience nor have they articulated any good reason for running. What is wrong with you?

]]> Watcher http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443149 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443149 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 11:54:06 -0800 Comment by Gomez Wow, are people THAT dumb, that they would vote out an incumbent for a generic Johnson because the Johnson had a title next to his/her name and the incumbent didn't?

I think such a case is more an indictment of the ignorance of voters than it is an indictment of the inherent corruption of the GOP.

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443175 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443175 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:23:11 -0800 Comment by sari "She's the incumbent."

A damn good reason to vote for somebody else. The more time a sup. ct. justice sits there in the rarified air of the Temple of Justice being called your honor and watching toadies genuflect to them the further they drift from the struggles of life most of us endure. Plus, fresh blood on the bench would shake up the status quo in Olympia, and that needs doing.

]]> sari http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443203 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443203 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:52:11 -0800 Comment by Geni Those of us who attend legislative district meetings and actually hear the judicial candidates speak, are a tiny minority. Those of us who read the voter's pamphlet, most especially the nonpartisan candidates' statements, are also a minority.

The vast majority of people who even bother to vote either skip the nonpartisan races altogether, or just do them by guess-or-by-golly - they pick the name they like the sound of, they vote for a name that sounds vaguely familiar, they vote for only women, etc. (women do have a very slight edge in judicial races because many women, lacking other data, do exactly that).

Most people don't post on political blogs, don't read political blogs, don't know the BIAW from DOMA, and could not give a tin shit who wins a judicial race. Now, I may find that personally appalling, but it's also the truth.

]]> Geni http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443204 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443204 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:52:12 -0800 Comment by Geni Oh, and Sari, if you'd ever spoken to Justice Owens, you'd know why your statement cracked me up. If there is anyone to whom "rarefied air" and being "toadied to" is less applicable than Susan Owens, I've yet to meet them. She is most definitely not the self-important type.

]]> Geni http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443207 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443207 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 12:55:01 -0800 Comment by Watcher I agree that there are some incumbents who have been too long in the seat (McDermott comes to mind) but a little experience (Owens is running for her 2nd term) in a supreme court justice seems like a good thing to me.

Agreed too that it would seem that Sari has never been in the Temple of Justice...

]]> Watcher http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443223 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443223 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 13:21:24 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle I don't know, how did she vote on the DOMA case?

Because, to be frank, they're not going to get a free ride this year and are going to be pulled from the slate.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443232 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443232 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 13:26:33 -0800 Comment by Josh Feit Will in Seattle,

The first line of my post says how Owens voted on the DOMA case. She voted to get rid of DOMA.

And I second Geni's comment on Owens. Owens aint pretentious at all.

]]> Josh Feit http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443263 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443263 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 13:57:30 -0800 Comment by Watcher What free ride? You're blowing smoke. Have you done ANY research on her opponents? Have you read any of the info above?

]]> Watcher http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443289 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443289 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 14:27:41 -0800 Comment by oscar There are a number of unfavorable inferences one can draw from how J. S.Owens did not write an opinion in the DOMA case. It could be incompetence. She might not be able to describe her jurisprudential bent towards whether procreative capacity is a rational reason to exclude some from marriage. Or she doesn’t care. With dozens of drafts flying back and forth over the past year and a half it seems odd she lacked the conviction to add to the jurisprudence in this case. With the election coming up perhaps political considerations warranted against even weighing in on positions her colleagues took.

These opinions were certainly going to be more widely read and discussed than almost any others; she could have helped set the legal landscape going forward. But she came up short.

]]> oscar http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443486 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443486 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:55:33 -0800 Comment by oscar She must not be persuasive, because she couldn’t convert even one of the five to her side. Yes, that would create a new majority but she didn’t try; she didn’t write an opinion which is how a judge attempts to convince other judges on a panel (by sending them drafts with good legal exegesis). Maybe no one else on the Court respects her.

So the candidate is a lame jurist. And the candidacy is weak – her donors have short arms (can’t reach pockets). FairPAC isn’t raking it in by any means. So she’s toast, right?

]]> oscar http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443587 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443587 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 20:50:28 -0800 Comment by Bill L. I have no doubt that Rob McKenna played a role in this. For I-933, the Farm Bureau/Home Builders' property rights initiative, McKenna wrote a ballot description that matched the proponents top messages from their polling. For I-937, the Clean Energy Initiative, McKenna wrote a wonky, confusing ballot description. McKenna plays dirty like no other politician in this state.

]]> Bill L. http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443685 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c443685 Politics Tue, 08 Aug 2006 23:04:54 -0800 Comment by pokergames pokergames pokergames

]]> pokergames http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c445819 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/08/more_name_games_in_s#c445819 Politics Sat, 12 Aug 2006 18:13:28 -0800