THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506070009
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
As a Portsmouth registered voter, I am deeply dismayed at the turn of events in the past month concerning the Democratic primary to be held June 13.
The candidates are Walter M. ``Square'' Edmonds, the incumbent, and Cynthia P. Morrison. The office for which they are vying is that of clerk of the Circuit Court. Under most circumstances, the fact that an incumbent has opposition is nothing new. However, when the competition is the wife of a Circuit Court judge, that sheds a different light on the matter.
How can this, the candidacy of a wife for the clerkship of a court in which her husband is a judge, be anything but a direct conflict of interest?
As a layperson, I cannot quote directly from the Canons of Judicial Ethics, but aren't there statutes stating that no judge, nor any member of his family, may receive gifts, donations, etc., from litigants? Any candidate for public office needs to solicit funds in order to run his or her campaign. In the case of Mrs. Morrison wouldn't this be a conflict of interest, especially when she is seeking office in the same court, in the same city, where her husband is a presiding judge?
I cannot abide this disregard of ethics by someone who is sworn to uphold the Constitution but chooses to do as he or she pleases by disregarding judicial ethics.
I feel it is my responsibility to support Mr. Edmonds, not only because he is qualified but also because I believe that a judge's wife should not hold an elected position in the court in which her husband presides.
JESSE G. ALSPAUGH
Portsmouth, May 22, 1995 by CNB