Oregon State Bar Judicial Voters Guide 2016 Judicial Candidate Questionnaire: Judge Version 1) Your full name: Michael Newman 2) Office Address and Phone Number: Josephine County Courthouse 500 NW 6 th Street, Dept 17 Grants Pass, Oregon 97526 541-476-2309 3) Web site (if applicable): None. 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. University of Oregon School of Law, Eugene, Oregon; JD (1981) Stanford University, Stanford, California; BA (Urban Studies) (1975) Abraham Lincoln High School, Denver, Colorado (1971) 5) List employment since graduation from law school, including dates employed, your position and the nature of the practice or activity. Circuit Court Judge, Josephine County, Oregon (since August 2003) Appointed by Governor Kulongoski in 2003; elected to 6 year terms in 2004 and 2010. Have served as the Family Court Judge since 2005. Deputy District Attorney, Josephine County, Oregon (1991 to 2003)
General felony prosecution for first six years; then for latter six years, primarily prosecuted sexual assault cases, crimes against children, and cases involving delinquent and dependent children. Associate Attorney, Eugene, Oregon (1990 to 1991) Associated with firm of Harrang Long Watkinson Arnold & Laird; primarily worked in the municipal law area, particularly matters involving the City of Eugene. Deputy City Attorney, Corvallis, Oregon (1986 to 1990) Served as municipal prosecutor as well as provided legal advice and support to the Planning Commission and to the city s development and code enforcement departments. Attorney at Law, Corvallis, Oregon (1983 to 1986) Associated with firm of Petersen Barker & Newman; general private law practice, including criminal defense, domestic relations matters, consumer affairs, and real estate transactions. Judicial Law Clerk, Oregon Court of Appeals, Salem, Oregon (1981 to 1982) Served as clerk for Hon. William Richardson, providing legal research and preparing draft court decisions. 6a) List state and federal bars, courts and administrative bodies to which you are presently admitted and the date of admission. Oregon State Bar (1982) United States District Court for Oregon (1989) 6b) 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. How to Follow the Rules to Professionalism, article in Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, Trial Lawyer (January 2015), monthly View from the Bench feature. Short article on professionalism addressed to trial lawyers. Responding to Teenage Consensual Sexual Contact, article in State Office for Services to Children and Families, MDT Quarterly (April, 2001). Short
article presented an analytical framework for making prosecution decisions in cases involving unlawful but consensual sexual activity between teenagers. Article XI Section 11b Action Areas for Cities, article in Oregon State Bar, Government Law Section, Government Perspectives, vol 11:1 (1991). Article reviewed effect of and possible actions available to cities following voter adoption of state constitutional amendment concerning property taxation. Municipal and Justice Courts, chapter in Oregon Law Institute, Oregon Local Government Law (1991). Chapter outlined legal basis of and general procedures in municipal and justice courts in Oregon. Comment, Tax Increment Financing for Development and Redevelopment, 61 Oregon Law Review 123 (1982). Article discussed legal basis for urban renewal financing in Oregon and possible use of this property taxation procedure for financing municipal infrastructure for economic development. Note, Sentencing the Multiple Criminal Offender a Comprehensive Approach: State v Cloutier, 59 Oregon Law Review 339 (1980). Short article discussed a recent Oregon Supreme Court case that ruled on concurrent and consecutive sentencing issues in Oregon criminal cases. 8) List community, teaching (Continuing Legal Education or otherwise) or civic activities. I have served on the City of Grants Pass, Urban Area Planning Commission (2002-03) as well as on other planning and development-related citizen task forces. Until my appointment as a judge, I served on the Rogue Community College, Criminal Justice Advisory Committee (2002-03). For many years I was a volunteer coach for the Grants Pass High School mock trial team, which each year has been one of the local teams participating in the statewide High School Mock Trial Competition. 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. As a lawyer, I have both prosecuted and defended people charged with crimes, worked as municipal counsel to advise citizen boards and municipal staff, and helped people with divorces and other personal matters. During my time with the Josephine County District Attorney s Office, I prosecuted a wide variety of cases, everything from shoplifting to aggravated murder. Although my client was the State of Oregon in those cases, I worked directly with law enforcement officers, citizen witnesses, and victims of crime of all ages. During my last six years as a prosecutor, I had primary responsibility for cases involving children whether as victims of crime, as delinquents charged with criminal conduct, or as dependent children in the child welfare system.
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. I was appointed by Governor Kulongoski to the Josephine County Circuit Court in August 2003. I was elected to a six year term of office in November 2004. I was reelected to a six year term in 2010 and continue to serve as a Circuit Court judge. 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. Since 2005 I have been the Family Court Judge, and I have had the primary responsibility for cases involving domestic relations, child custody, juvenile delinquency, and dependent children. I have participated in the full range of cases that come to the court in addition to both civil and criminal jury trials, I have handled countless court trials (no jury) in marital dissolution, child custody and support, delinquent and dependent children, contempt proceedings, probate matters, restraining orders, landlord-tenant matters, stalking protective orders, creditor-debtor matters, civil commitment proceedings, and many others. 12) Describe any judicial experience in appellate courts not included above. No further information to add. 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. In the past five years, I have presided over hundreds of hearings and trials lasting anywhere from under 30 minutes to a week or more. Domestic relations cases and juvenile matters do not involve juries, so I have both presided over the trial and had the role of decision maker in these cases. In addition, I have conducted a handful of jury trials, almost all being criminal cases. Because the jury, not the judge, is the decision maker in these cases, the judge s role is to preside over the trial and make legal rulings. 14) Describe any experience serving as an arbitrator or mediator. None.
15) List all bar association memberships, offices held and committee assignments. Oregon State Bar, member since 1982. 16) Describe any bar association or judicial department committees, task forces, or special projects in which you have been involved. I am currently a member of a Judicial Department committee helping to implement the Oregon ecourt program. This statewide technology initiative is bringing modern technology and internet-based processes into use. This will enable public access to Oregon courts any time from anywhere, give judges the tools and information they need to make informed decisions in all matters coming before the state courts, and give self-represented litigants guided interview processes to assemble the court papers needed in domestic relations and other types of cases. I previously was a member of the joint Oregon State Bar and Oregon Judicial Department Commission on Professionalism, which promotes standards of professionalism for lawyers and judges in the Oregon court system. I also previously was a member of the Judicial Department s Appeals Board, which hears workplace disciplinary appeals by court employees. 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. No. 19) What attracted you to a judicial career? Throughout my career as a lawyer, whether as prosecutor or defense attorney or attorney for a private party in a civil or domestic relations case, my objective has always been to resolve each case fairly and respectfully concerning all individuals involved. These personal qualities, plus my exposure to a variety of areas of law practice and my extensive courtroom experience, have made me exceptionally well qualified to serve as a judge. I
have found service as a judge to be satisfying work that I am well suited for. I want to continue to serve as a judge in the Josephine County Courts. 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. A judge presides over a forum where disputes can be resolved efficiently, fairly, respectfully, and in accordance with law. In a jury trial, the judge allows the parties to try their case with the minimum judicial intervention necessary to ensure a fair trial. In non-jury trials and other hearings conducted without a jury which actually comprise the vast majority of court proceedings the judge s role is more active. Sometimes a judge has to determine what the law requires and how it applies to a particular case, so a judge must have the ability to understand and determine complex and technical points of law. More often, the law is clear and the judge must determine what the facts are and apply the law to those facts. A judge must be experienced, intelligent, and decisive. In addition, a judge must have a calm and courteous demeanor and be respectful to each individual involved in a case. Our court system is adversarial the position or claim of only one party or the other is going to prevail. Losing parties need to believe that they received a fair hearing and that the judge treated them fairly and with respect. 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. Before I became a judge, I served as a deputy district attorney for over 12 years. As a prosecutor, I was known to be intelligent, fair, and reasonable with an excellent reputation for honesty and integrity. When I sought the governor s appointment to a judicial vacancy, I was gratified to find that my application was strongly supported not only by fellow prosecutors but by the criminal defense bar as well. It demonstrated to me that the qualities that have served me well as a lawyer are the ones we want to see in our judges. 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. The court and the court system can be a confusing maze of offices, forms, procedures, and deadlines. These can be a barrier before a person even gets into the courtroom, let alone presents a case to the judge. Access to justice, particularly for those who cannot afford to hire an attorney, is a concern of mine. The ongoing Oregon ecourt program is improving and will continue to improve access to justice for all who have business with the court. I have participated in statewide committees and oversight bodies concerned with
the ecourt program since 2004 and will continue to work at the statewide level to make Oregon s courthouses more accessible. 23) Briefly describe a legal figure, personal, fictional or historical, whom you admire and why. The late Dave Frohnmayer had a long career in public service that included, among other things, serving as President of the University of Oregon and as Oregon Attorney General. He was a professor of mine at the University of Oregon Law School and, at the same time, a representative in the Oregon State Legislature. His work ethic, his professional integrity, his dedication to public service, and his devotion to his family are each notable qualities and together are truly admirable. He has been a model for me since my first week of law school in 1978, when he squeezed in several extra days of lectures so he could travel to Salem to participate in a special session of the legislature. 24) State any other information that you regard as pertinent to your candidacy. I am serving our community well as a judge and would like the opportunity to continue in this office as a judge for Josephine County. I will continue to work hard to earn and keep the public s trust and respect.