Six judge candidates field questions at forum

Six candidates for Flathead District Court judge took the stage Wednesday night during a sparsely attended candidates’ night in the auditorium of Glacier High School.

Running for the Department 2 seat being vacated by retiring Judge Katherine Curtis are local attorneys Robert Allison and Bruce Fredrickson and Justice of the Peace Dan Wilson. The Department 3 seat being vacated by retiring Judge Stewart Stadler is being sought by local attorney Vanessa Ceravolo and Kalispell Municipal Judge Heidi Ulbricht.

District Judge Ted Lympus is unopposed in his bid for re-election in Department 1.

Since the races are nonpartisan, the top two vote-getters in each contested department will proceed to the general election. Because of that, Ceravolo and Ulbricht automatically will advance.

During the panel, the candidates fielded questions on rulings taken under advisement, ideas to improve the effectiveness of judicial procedure, judicial temperament, the setting of bail and their strengths and weaknesses.

The candidates provided a wide range of ideas to improve the courts, among them having a specialty court for family law with the ability to fast-track cases, an idea proposed by Ceravolo and seconded by Fredrickson.

Wilson gave point-by-point suggestions about encouraging judges to adopt local rules, developing a master calendar of all court proceedings and adopting a local rule that all documents created during the discovery period would be admissible unless counsel for the other side objected within a set period of time.

Allison added to Wilson’s suggestions the addition of attorney conferences with the judges.

On the issue of judicial temperament, the candidates agreed that an even keel and a modicum of self-control are necessary to maintain proper decorum on the bench.

Wilson said it is something that takes a constant effort and attention to maintain.

“It’s going to be a struggle,” Wilson said. “At times it’s just going to be work.”

Allison said neutrality and treating defendants with respect are part of that struggle, which he said was critical to foster respect toward the judge.

Ulbricht said some judges get an undeserved sense of power from their position that she called “black robe fever,” but said that “just isn’t my style.” She said her attitude is very predictable and people will find her demeanor to be the same both inside and outside of court.

Every candidate pointed to his or her individual experience as their biggest strength except for Wilson, who said he believed his was humility before the law. His weakness, he said, was that he struggles with patience dealing with people “who refuse to get to the point.”

Fredrickson added his qualifications and work ethic to his strengths, while saying his weakness was family law. He said his practice has not focused on it, but that he is not unfamiliar with it either.

“I’m a very fast study,” Fredrickson said. “I’ll learn it.”

Along with his experience, Allison said his “intense people practice” was another strength because it gave him a lot of insight into people. His weakness, he said, was that because his practice was very broad, it offered little specificity into any one area of law.

Ceravolo said her weakness was that she doesn’t like admitting that she is weak, and she stressed that she goes out of her way to make people feel like they’re getting justice.

Going back to the idea of judicial temperament, Ulbricht said her lack of differentiation in her mood does not make her “the most dynamic person.”

For his part, Lympus said his weakness was that he is sentimental and sometimes that makes handing down a sentence a difficult task.

The primary election will be held on June 5. Early voting started Monday.

The forum was sponsored by the Northwest Montana Bar Association.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.