Oregon State Bar Judicial Voters Guide 2010

Transcription

1 Oregon State Bar Judicial Voters Guide ) Your full name: John L. Collins 2) Office Address and Phone Number: Yamhill County Courthouse 535 NE 5 th Street McMinnville, OR (503) ) Web site (if applicable): Court website is 4) List high school, college and law school attended, including dates of attendance, degrees awarded and your reasons for leaving each school if no degree from that institution was awarded. New York University School of Law, LL.M. Degree in Criminal Justice, Willamette University School of Law, J.D. Degree, Oregon State University, Bachelor of Science, Business Administration, North Salem High School, Graduated ) List employment since graduation from law school, including dates employed, your position and the nature of the practice or activity. Judge, Yamhill County Circuit Court, McMinnville, 9/92 present (Presiding Judge 1/98 present). General jurisdiction trial judge, full range of civil, criminal, domestic relations, juvenile, probate and other matters. Administrative duty and authority as Presiding Judge. District Attorney, Yamhill County, McMinnville, 1/76 9/92. Elected District Attorney, full range of criminal prosecution, juvenile delinquency and dependency, child support enforcement and related duties.

2 Attorney, Metropolitan Public Defender s Office, Portland, 11-12/75. Criminal defense, mental commitment defense. Community Corrections Manager, Yamhill-Polk-Marion, 7/74 11/75. Manage tri-county corrections program. Law Clerk, Rothblatt, Seigis & Peskin, New York City, 10/73 5/74. Legal Research. Deputy District Attorney, Yamhill County, McMinnville, 9/72 8/73. Criminal prosecution. Law Clerk, Clark, Brown et al, Salem, late Summer of Legal Research. 6a) List state and federal bars, courts and administrative bodies to which you are presently admitted and the date of admission. Oregon State Bar member since Oregon Federal Bar member since b) List any previous admissions, including dates, and the reason why you are no longer admitted. None. 7) List publications and/or articles you have authored. Criminal Law CLE Manual chapters on extradition and on pre-trial dispositions, with revisions. I have also written training materials for various programs and an occasional contribution to the local newspaper. 8) List community, teaching (Continuing Legal Education or otherwise) or civic activities. I have taught at various Oregon District Attorney s Association or Justice Department programs, National College of District Attorneys, Judicial Department training. I am former chair of the state judicial education committee. Active in Oregon Circuit Court Judges Association. Also involved in the past in local Rotary Club, county Green committee and other civic activities.

3 9) Prior to your becoming a judge, what was the general character of your legal practice? Indicate the nature of your typical clients and mention any legal areas in which you concentrated. I was briefly in criminal defense followed by 17 plus years in criminal prosecution. I have also handled juvenile, mental commitment and related matters prior to becoming a judge. 10) List your judicial experience, including as a pro tem, and/or service on an administrative tribunal, or justice, municipal, tax, circuit, or appellate court. State Circuit Judge, 25 th Judicial District, Yamhill County, since 1992 (12 th Judicial District which included Polk County ). I have served on other Circuit Courts on exchange or temporary basis. I have served 3 times on the Oregon Court of Appeals and once on the tribal court for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. 11) Describe the general character of your judicial work over the past five years. Indicate the nature of the cases over which you preside, any specialty courts or court programs, and any legal areas in which you concentrate. I have presided over a broad spectrum of civil, criminal, domestic relations, juvenile delinquency and dependency, probate, and other types of cases. I have been a drug court judge for about 12 years and also sat on family law, mental health and juvenile drug courts. I have been involved in development and implementation of a variety of court programs for improved justice services, chair or the local family law advisory committee and numerous other judicial services and court programs. 12) Describe any judicial experience in appellate courts not included above. Argued, as DA, one case in the Court of Appeals. Sat as a pro tem judge on the Court of Appeals three times and authored two opinions. 13) State the approximate number of trials or contested hearings over which you have presided as the judicial officer during each of the past five years. Indicate roughly how many were jury trials and how many were trials to the court. It is very difficult to give numbers, but would estimate 20 or so jury trials a year and sit in court trials or contested hearings on an almost daily basis.

4 14) Describe any experience serving as an arbitrator or mediator. I frequently act as a judicial mediator in settlement conferences. 15) List all bar association memberships, offices held and committee assignments. Member, Oregon State Bar since No offices held and have not served on OSB committees. I have served on the executive committee of the Yamhill County Bar Association. 16) Describe any bar association or judicial department committees, task forces, or special projects in which you have been involved. Member of the OJD Judicial Education committee for about 10 years; chair for about 8. I have served on numerous short-duration committees such as the budget reduction advisory committee, the presiding judge education subcommittee, crime victim s rights committee and others. 17) Have you ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of any federal, state, county or municipal law, regulation or ordinance? If so, please give details. Do not include parking offenses or traffic violations for which a fine of less than $500 was imposed. No. 18) Have you ever been the subject of a formal disciplinary proceeding as an attorney or judge? If so, please give the particulars and the result. Include formal proceedings only. Accused, as DA, of ethics violation for informing a criminally negligent homicide victim s family of the content of a pre-sentence report in order to prepare them for the sentencing hearing. I was acquitted by the trial panel. The bar chose to appeal and the exoneration was affirmed by the Supreme Court. 19) What attracted you to a judicial career? After numerous years as a DA, I believed I could serve well as a trial judge. I believed I had, and have, skills and a sense of fairness, knowledge of the law and diligence that attracted me to the responsibilities of the bench. Also, growing up, I admired a neighbor who was a judge. I later appeared in front of several judges that I regarded as role models.

5 I continue to believe that judicial service is a high calling and the opportunity to do justice on a daily basis is a privilege. 20) Briefly describe your philosophy of the judicial role, the qualities that are most important for the role, and the greatest challenges to the role. The most essential role for a judge is to make decisions within the framework of the law. In carrying out that role, judges must act with integrity, knowledge and diligence and apply skills of effective listening, analysis and an eye for a just outcome, not just an outcome. The greatest challenge is management of the workload and exercise of leadership in collaborative problem solving without taking on too much. 21) Briefly describe a case, or a legal issue on which you worked, of which you are particularly proud, or which is reflective of your legal ability, work ethic, judicial philosophy, or temperament. Leadership in development of problem-solving courts has been both a challenge and satisfying, though not without its frustrations. I am proud of the manner in which, as PJ working with a team of judges, administration and staff, we have been able to significantly improve the quality and timeliness of justice services in this county. The long hours both in application to specific cases and in the overall leadership within the local and state system has been rewarding in terms of improved outcomes and process. 22) Briefly describe an issue, related to Oregon's justice system, that is of particular interest or concern to you, or that you have interest in working toward improving. I continue to maintain a high interest and involvement in improved evidencebased approaches to sentencing, improved practices in family law and access to justice, particularly for those who need justice services but do not have counsel. I am interested in improving court process for domestic violence cases. I also hope to help design and implement improved practices for persons with special needs including, but not limited to those with mental illness or developmental disability. 23) Briefly describe a legal figure, personal, fictional or historical, whom you admire and why. I have been inspired by attorneys who are willing to fight for the rights of those who have been mistreated or disadvantaged. There are numerous examples in fiction as well as real life. Those who served in the areas of civil rights, improved access to justice or any area in need of illumination and justice come to mind. While not an attorney, I greatly admire Martin Luther

6 King, and have written an article applying his masterful formula for constructive dispute resolution to family law matters. 24) State any other information that you regard as pertinent to your candidacy. I have served as a judge in this county for over 17 years and consider it a great privilege that I do not take for granted. I hope to continue to participate in system improvement as well as the administration of justice, one case at a time.