New Judge Happy on the Bench

District Court Judge Alan Malott has just spent the last 90 days as the newest civil court judge for the second district court and could not be more happier in his position. In the last 90 days he has had the privilege to marry 102 couples here in Bernalillo County. While judges deal with disputes on day to day bases and see the harder side of the court system, it is always a happy moment in their day to be able to provide this kind of serve to the voting public. The judges in the second district court system have a never ending stream of cases and find little time to spend with friends and family due to the large case load. It is only those first few days that they find themselves with time to spend with the general voting public.

Judges are not allow to speak to individual issues before the court in public and most times must stick to the basic fact of their personal life and educational history in order to provide the voting public with a view of what type of judge they will be in the future. Yet with their limited free time I have found that most of our second district court judges force time into their schedules in order to support local community activities which show their caring side. These judges need support from the local communities when it comes to running for that first contested race. They go through a very careful selection process and must meet strict requirements before their name is sent on a list to the Governor for consideration. After being chosen by the governor judges must run in a partisan race in order to keep their seat on the bench. The process is long and often forces individual not accustom to public life into the spotlight so it is with great care and understand that we should approach our newest judges.