CJ,
Sorry to bust your bubble, but some of the Judges in the systems are incredibly brilliant, fair, and reasonable people.
In my town, we had one of our local judges promoted by the Republican Govenor up to the State of Idaho Appeals court. The guy is an incredible genius, and I have full confidence in his rulings. And to further bust your bubble, he was born in Mexico!
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR> Idaho's first Hispanic judge a tribute to the man and the state
By Stephen J. Lyons
for Headwaters News
When Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne appointed Third District Judge Sergio A. Gutierrez to the Idaho Court of Appeals this month, it was a "first" for both the Mexican-born Gutierrez and the Gem State.
The 47-year-old judge and the state that has been, at times, dragged unwillingly to the trough of diversity, have become partners in shaping a new vision for the region.
It's a vision and partnership Idaho needs if it has any change of shaking off the damaging effects of Ruby Ridge, the Aryan Nations and many other anti-diversity public relations nightmares.
Gutierrez is the first and only Hispanic judge in Idaho's history, a fact noted during his first judicial appointment in 1993 by then-Gov. Cecil Andrus, and a fact that surfaced again with his appointment to the Idaho Court of Appeals.
This is no ordinary appointment. Sergio Gutierrez's rise to the Appeals Court is the culmination of a journey that began in poverty in Mexico and, on paper at least, should never have succeeded.
The story is not finished, of course. Many expect Gutierrez to eventually occupy a seat on the Idaho Supreme Court. In the meantime, supporters expect Gutierrez to add compassion to the three-member appellate court.
"When I see folks who have a lot to contribute, I am looking through my own window," Gutierrez told me. "Their window is poverty and survival. And the laws in our criminal justice system have not given us the tools to work with women, men and young adults."
As reported by Idaho Statesman columnist Dan Popkey, Canyon County Public Defender Scott Fouser said of Gutierrez, "He has a cultural understanding most of us lack. When he talks to Hispanic defendants about what´s going on in their lives, he´s looking for things that a lot of us won´t see and might not consider significant."
Still, this is not simply a story of one Mexican man's journey from immigration through assimilation to success. The judge's story is uniquely American -- perhaps the same as our parents', or our grandparents'.
In the cities, towns and new barrios of southwestern Idaho, America remains the land of opportunities, and some Hispanics are climbing the economic and political rungs of power. But not all and not easily. If you can make it as a minority in Idaho, you can make it anywhere.
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