Since I grew up in Sibley County, and practiced law and lived here since 1974, occasionally a person appears before me with whom I am acquainted.
There have been times when such an acquaintance has appeared
before me on a routine matter – a traffic ticket, for instance. I am uncomfortable, but really can’t see
sending the person away to come back another day before a different judge.
So I hear the matter and do my best to do justice for this
person. I know what I would do if it were a stranger in my court. For my acquaintance, I must be neither more
lenient nor more strict, and avoid even the appearance of favoritism.
I am also a member of the Masonic Fraternity. In the Seventh Degree in the Scottish Rite, I
have played the part of a judge in Solomon’s Israel. This judge is approached by two workers
rebuilding the Temple,
each asking the judge to give preference to his side in a matter to be heard by
the judges that day.
Admonishing one of those workmen, my character has a line
that summarizes the position of Masonry and my personal attitude when a person
I know appears before me in my official capacity: “As a
Fellow of the Craft, I call you Brother, but as a Judge, I know you not!”
My position requires that I rise above my knowledge of the
person before me and show no favoritism.
Or, as the judge in that Masonic degree I’m in says later, “[I] promise
and vow that [I] will decide justly and impartially whatever matters of
difference may be submitted to [me] without fear or favor or the hope or
promise of reward.”
Without fear or favor.
Wow. Not only would it be
improper to decide with the hope of gaining some personal advantage, I must make
the correct decision even in the face of possible unpleasant consequences. Even if that means I may have to explain
myself the next time I’m up for election.
As a man, a Mason and a judge, I know that I, like all human
beings, have fallen short of the mark.
That is no excuse to quit trying, however. I have taken an obligation to support and
defend the Constitution of the United States
and the Constitution of the State of Minnesota. I do my best, every day, to fulfill that
oath.
* *
* * *
Next week: We Live in
a Great Country.
