Monday, October 25, 2010

The Novelist vs. The Legal Establishment: November 2nd Election Looms

Michael Nava has excelled as both a writer and lawyer. A Phi Beta Kappa from Colorado College, Nava went on to earn his law degree from Stanford University in 1981. From there, he worked with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, a prestigious private appellate law firm, and then as a research attorney first with the California Court of Appeal and now with the California Supreme Court as a judicial staff attorney for Associate Justice Carlos Moreno. Nava also happens to be an award-winning author of nine books.

Nava has been running for a seat as a judge of the San Francisco Superior Court. If you wish to support or learn more about his candidacy, visit his official website. You may have read that his race, which involves a challenge to a sitting judge, has become a battle between the establishment and an attempt to bring more diversity to the bench. In the June 8th primary, he received the highest number of votes for San Francisco Superior Court, winning nearly 46% in a three way race and defeating the incumbent. However, because judicial candidates have to win a majority, Nava now have to go into a run-off in November against the incumbent. Still, he heads into November as the frontrunner.

This really is a story of David and Goliath: In the last three months, Nava's opponent (a sitting judge who was once registered as a Republican but now “declines to state”) has raised $170,000 from big law firms. Moreover, the San Francisco Chronicle has written a number of articles attacking Nava, cumulating in an editorial last weekend that said Nava was not qualified to be a judge. Nonetheless, Nava has great grassroots support including the Hispanic National Bar Association, SF La Raza, BALiF, and other community organizations and leaders. If you are registered in the San Francisco area, I urge you to vote and make your voice heard.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Michael Nava isn't qualified to be a judge. In my view, he also lacks integrity. Like Nava, I am also a judicial staff attorney, openly gay, and a Democrat. Consider this: On the Chinese language ballot, he translated his name as "Fairness and Justice Lee," a blatant attempt to misrepresent his identity. If you are okay with that, vote for Nava. Nothing I could say could convince you otherwise.