Experience in a Superior Court judge

In the midst of all the excitement of voting for two supervisorial seats, it may be easy to overlook another important race - Superior Court judge. Whoever is elected to this position will be presiding over cases that affect our homes, families, businesses and communities in many important ways.

While we often think of our courts as places where criminal cases are tried, that is only a small part of a Superior Court judge's duties. Much of the work of a Superior Court judge involves civil law, including such matters as custody rights, land-use decisions, public finance, taxation, code enforcement and real estate disputes.

We need to elect a judge who has a broad range of experience in all of these areas.

Because much of the focus of the Santa Barbara County Action Network (SB CAN) is related to environmental issues, we are particularly interested in electing a candidate who has a firm grasp of environmental law and land-use policies, including the crucial provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Legal questions concerning the quality of our water, the preservation of agricultural lands and open space, and the protection of endangered species and sensitive habitat are often decided in a Superior Court.

SB CAN has been studying the records of the three candidates for Superior Court judge. We want to see which candidate has the broadest range of experience in areas important to our work, including environmental law.

Kevin Ready has more than 30 years experience as an attorney in a broad range of civil, criminal and environmental law. He majored in environmental law and later, as an Army judge advocate general officer, he earned a certificate in administrative law.

He started his practice prosecuting criminal cases in federal court, and went on to practice general litigation as a partner in a private law firm. For a time, he taught law at the Santa Barbara College of Law, and managed a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the coastline.

For the past 18 years, he has served as a senior attorney for Santa Barbara County, where he advises staff and supervisors on a wide variety of matters, including land use, public work contracts, public finance, environmental resources and CEQA.

Jed Beebe also has experience in a wide range of law practice. While obtaining his law degree, he clerked with the Environmental Unit of the state Attorney General's office, and then started practicing law with an insurance defense firm.

He spent four years with Santa Barbara County, specializing for a time in land-use and CEQA matters. For the past 18 years he has served as a research attorney for the Superior Court judges. Over the years, his cases have ranged from insurance fraud, civil litigation, family law and juvenile court, to probate, prosecuting misdemeanors and defending school districts.

John MacKinnon has served the people of California for almost 12 years as a senior deputy district attorney, where he has prosecuted cases including attempted murder, domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault.

He has also served as the district attorney representative in the county's Treatment Court, handled sexually violent predator commitment cases, and initiated the Santa Barbara County Rural Crime Taskforce.

It's not often that a vacant Superior Court seat gets filled by an election - usually the governor will make an appointment.

So, it is important to take the time to learn more about each of the candidates before casting your vote.

Whoever fills this seat will most likely serve for a very long time, and we need to make sure the candidate with the most experience in the widest range of practice takes the bench. The decisions made in Superior Courts can significantly affect the quality of our lives and our communities.

Deborah Brasket is executive director for the Santa Barbara County Action Network (SB CAN). She can be reached at 722-5094, or Deborah@sbcan.org. Looking Forward runs every Friday, providing a progressive viewpoint on local issues.

May 9, 2008