Judicial candidates discuss reasons for running
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Three candidates are running for District Court Judge in District 20: Deborah Kim Christopher, incumbent, Joey Jayne and Thomas Kragh.
Since Christopher has spent her entire career in service to the people, she said she’s running, “to be able to do that in a place that matters to me, for people I care about, in a place I want to live ... It’s an incredible privilege.”
It takes a long time to come to terms with the job, Christopher said.
The height of the bench and the power of the robe affects people’s most important affairs, she said, such as losing a child, forming parenting plans that split families or gaining money that’s supposed to make them whole and won’t make anything whole.
Jayne’s reason for running is because the people in this jurisdiction must have fairness in the current system. She stated that people should not be judged by their status in the community but by the facts and applicable laws.
“Everyone is affected by court decisions,” Jayne said, citing examples such as a probate case, a family law case, a contract dispute, a tort situation, a tax dispute, an insurance issue or a property tax disagreement.
“I want to be a judge who is going to help that person through that process,” she added.
No single factor dominated Kragh’s decision, he said. “The short answer is, ‘My candidacy is based upon my experience and balance,’” he explained. “I decided I could best use that accumulated experience in meeting the challenges facing a district judge.”
What sets Jayne apart from her fellow candidates is a combination of having been a civil litigator as well as a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney. Currently, Jayne serves as an Appellate court justice for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. She also served in the Montana State Legislature from 2001 to 2008.
Jayne is licensed to practice in Montana State District Courts, U.S. Federal Court, CSKT Tribal Court, Northern Cheyenne, Blackfeet Tribal and Coeur d’Alene Tribal Courts (Idaho) and in the Navajo Nation Tribal Court (Utah, New Mexico and Arizona).
Kragh said most of his career has been in private, general practice.
“My opponent (Christopher) has spent the great majority of her time working in various government positions,” he noted.
Without question, some government service is commendable, Kragh said, but in his opinion, the risk of becoming entrenched is real.
Having had the privilege of serving as an elected prosecuting attorney protecting victims, Kragh said he did his legal and ethical best “to safeguard those fundamental Constitutional rights we all share.”
Kragh received his legal education at Notre Dame, and currently his private practice concentrates on elder and family law.
“In past times,” Kragh said, “attorneys would serve as judges after spending substantial time in the private sector and then take that broad know-how and apply it to the judicial decisions they must make.”
“The most obvious thing (that distinguishes me from my opponents) is my experience,” Christopher said. She’s spent two terms as district judge in District 20 and two terms as a county attorney as well as in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Legal Corps as a Legal Assistant at Fort Lewis and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. She also spent about 18 months in private practice with French, Mercer, Grainey and O’Neal before election as Lake County Attorney.
“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the courtroom; you don’t understand until you’ve gotten there,” she said.”
