A crowded field, a muddled message

At present there are seven declared candidates by my count.  Five of us are from Forrest County; one from Pearl River County, and one from Marion County.  Already identity politics are contaminating the race.  The important question is whether a candidate will exercise sound judgment in equity for all who come before the court.  If you want the candidate with the most experience, that's an easy call to make.  If you want the candidate with the most sparkling resume, that's an easy choice, too.  But decades of experience and a sheen on your CV do not entitle you to be a judge.

So far, each declared candidate meets the legal requirements to serve as judge.  By law, they are all qualified.  Qualification is the threshold to seek this position.

How then do you choose your chancellor?  Deuteronomy 1:16-18 contains Moses's famous charge to the judges of Israel.  Kearney Travis reminded all of us at Judge Thomas's funeral about this charge:  "Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.  Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it."

Thomas Jefferson famously expounded on the jurisdiction of the courts of equity.  "These limitations are: 1. That it cannot take cognizance of any case wherein the Common Law can give a complete remedy.  2.  That it cannot interpose in any case against the express letter and intention of the Legislature.  3.  That it shall not interpose in any case which does not come within a general description, and admit of redress by a general and practicable rule."  Letter to Philip Mazzei, 1785.Chancery courts are dependent upon the sound judgment of the judges.

There are precious few cases wherein a jury can be found in chancery court.  The judge is called to take the facts, and apply the law to the facts, using his own judgment.  Above all, the court has a duty of humility in judgment; the judge cannot discriminate between the litigant in the thousand dollar suit and the litigant in the threadbare t-shirt.  Each litigant deserves the same consideration and discernment from the court.  This is my pledge to the voters of this district: I will treat each of you with the dignity and respect that all persons are due from their public servants.