The Baird Successor: Crowded Field Jockeys for 299th
Criminal court opening draws several hopefuls
By Jordan Smith, Fri., Feb. 12, 2010
Travis County District Court Judge Charlie Baird's December decision – just days before the primary filing period began – that he would not seek re-election to the 299th Criminal District court came as a surprise to most courthouse watchers. Baird, who hasn't always had the friendliest of relationships with prosecutors (or, for that matter, the defense bar), had nonetheless developed a reputation as an out-of-the-box thinker, unafraid to try new things in the pursuit of justice – like the use of GPS tracking for defendants, thereby enabled to get out of jail on bond. Moreover, though there had been plenty of talk in 2009 about the emergence of a possible direct dark-horse Democratic challenger to Baird's bench, none materialized. Had he decided to stay, he was virtually a lock to keep the seat. But Baird has a young family, and, he said in explaining his decision to retire from the seat he won in 2006, he was ready to return to private practice in order to spend more time at home.
Baird's announcement unleashed a late-cresting flood, and by the January filing deadline, four Dem candidates had entered the race: Assistant District Attorney Karen Sage, who had initially filed against Austin Police Monitor Cliff Brown for the 147th Criminal District Court; former Assistant District Attorney Mindy Montford, who ran unsuccessfully for the D.A. job in 2008; defense attorney Eve Schatelowitz Alcantar; and veteran defense attorney Leonard Martinez. The ballot is, in some ways, an embarrassment of riches for voters. This felony bench handles a heavy and serious docket – of charges including murder, rape, and robbery; as Schatelowitz Alcantar put it, the 299th Court is incredibly important "because life and death issues are decided. It's really that basic." It is also a bench with a rich history of innovation. Baird's predecessor was Senior District Judge Jon Wisser, who occupied this seat for more than two decades. Wisser was instrumental in setting up the county's drug diversion court, one of the nation's oldest specialty courts for low-level drug offenders. Although each of the candidates describes a distinct vision for the court, each agrees that deciding who best carries forward the tradition of innovation is an important consideration.
The early buzz on the race gives the advantage to Sage and Montford. The Sage campaign was on the ground early, in the 147th race and then the 299th, long before the others had even filed. And Montford is presumed to have the best name ID, with longstanding local Democratic connections as well as her high-profile 2008 D.A. race. By contrast, Schatelowitz Alcantar is relatively inexperienced and unknown politically; Martinez, who also filed late, has a wide-ranging background and long legal career but has been criticized for, at best, inconsistent defense work. Right now, with four candidates in a downballot primary, a run-off between Sage and Montford seems the likeliest bet.
To Sage, the most important thing about the 299th Court and her candidacy is her commitment to "innovative" justice. "It is time for a change," she says. She's currently an assistant district attorney and was instrumental in creating the county's new mental health docket. The idea is to identify defendants with mental illness and remove their cases from the court's regular docket and simultaneously connect defendants with services to help meet their special needs; the goal is to break the cycle of involvement with the criminal justice system. Sage grew up in Minnesota and worked as a prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney's Office in eastern New York before taking her current job with the D.A.'s office in 2006. She prosecuted a wide variety of cases – from murder and sexual assault to fraud and other white-collar crimes – but says she's become increasingly interested in "therapeutic justice" where practicable.
Sage says that if elected she would like to try to expand into her court the county's mental health docket. She would also like to explore setting up a "support court" – a special docket for probationers who are having trouble and are facing possible revocation and, as a result, more time in prison. She cut her teeth with the support-court model as a prosecutor in the courtroom of Judge Julie Kocurek (who handles the mental health docket). The idea is to provide "extra judicial support" to struggling probationers in an effort to help them successfully complete their sentences. Sage notes that she is "really the only candidate" in the race actively working on programs for jail and prison diversion. "It's not just talk for me," she says, "and it's why I'm running."
Schatelowitz Alcantar says that even if you've never been in trouble before, the decision about who sits on the county's court benches is extremely important. "When sentences are handed down and people are sent to prison, that's a burden on the taxpayer," she says. And if a person leaves prison without receiving the treatment he or she needs – drug treatment for an addict, for example – "that's also a burden." Schatelowitz Alcantar has been working as a criminal defense attorney for the last six years, and her father, brother, and husband all work in law enforcement. As a judge, she says, she would try to take a holistic approach to her docket, looking for programs and possibilities to break people from constantly cycling through the criminal justice system. She likes the innovations that Baird has implemented, including the use of GPS tracking for defendants out on bond and the use of electronic alcohol monitors. And she says she would look for every opportunity to get people straight before entering a final felony conviction, which is often a barrier not only to finding work but also to getting housing and education. "The reality," she says, is that we have to find solutions that are "best for victims, for the community, and for the defendant."
The cases that come before felony court judges are serious, and, in capital cases, lives are literally on the line. In handling these offenses, Montford believes she has the edge over her opponents. Not only did she work as a prosecutor for nine years but she's now a defense attorney, making her the only candidate with experience on both sides of the bar. "It's crucial that when someone takes the bench they have experience," she says, and are not "trying to learn from the bench." Montford, whose father is a former state senator from Lubbock, has also put in time at the Legislature, where she was responsible for drafting legislation that eventually became Texas' life-without-parole sentencing option for capital defendants. (Her campaign has earned the support of a number of heavy-hitting Lege Dems, including Austin state Sen. Kirk Watson.) Montford agrees that fine-tuning the process for greater efficiency is an important part of this bench and says she has demonstrated her commitment to trying new things. While running for D.A. in 2008, Montford was the first to suggest that the office create a 24-hour intake position to help ensure that appropriate charges are filed, a move that D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg recently implemented as a way to help streamline the docket and cut down on unnecessary jail stays. If elected, Montford says, she would work to streamline the court's docket and would be active in trying to identify cases that "warrant special attention," including cases of child abuse and sexual assault that might merit their own special docket settings. "I have always been someone who advocates for innovation," she says.
Martinez is the most veteran attorney in this race. He's been a lawyer since 1981 and is board certified in criminal law. The most important issue he'll have to deal with as a judge is "assuring equal justice for those who are indigent or poor," he wrote in an e-mail, and he says it's important to keep a judge who will continue Baird's approach to "focusing on rehabilitation" for defendants. Martinez, who worked as a nurse and social worker before becoming a lawyer, said that if elected he would approach the job in a "thoughtful and methodical way," organizing his docket to give priority to people waiting in jail for their cases to be heard, "having time to deal with important contested issues," and "mediating" between defense and prosecution for nonviolent offenders. "Time is a valuable court resource and must be used in the most productive way possible," he wrote.
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