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Pat Broderick and John LemMon are vying in a runoff election for a seat on the Sonoma County Superior Court. Click on their names to see how they answered the WSC questionnaire on local issues. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order.
What do you think of their positions? What questions would you like to see them answer? Which one is best suited to serve on the bench? Post your questions and comments below.
Meet the candidates:
PAT BRODERICK
Age: 50
Occupation: Law School Dean – Empire College School of Law
Political party affiliation: Democrat
JOHN LEMMON
Age: 47
Occupation: Victim’s Rights Attorney
Political party affiliation: NA. “The position of Superior Court Judge is non-partisan.”
- Watch a video of the candidates’ May 3 debate during the primary election
- See who the PD Editorial Board endorsed
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The fact that not one of the judges in this county are for Lemon is reason enough to vote for him!
SoCo is not known for brilliance in law, perhaps because a good ole boy justice system hss never produced any honourable judges or decisions!
Remember, it is never the law or facts that matter locally but who the parties are!
This is a quote from Mr. Lemmon’s Facebook page which was posted on Saturday 10/30/2010:
“John LemMon for Judge: domestic violence, family law restraining orders, lies to the press, and stealing campaign signs does not resonate with judicial qualification !”
It is fact that Pat had 2 restraining orders filed against him, but is there anything else in John’s statement that qualifies as FACT?
I don’t recall ever seeing anything that implied there was any actual domestic violence. Did Pat lie to the press? What is the lie?
And John adds to his smear campaign by now also accusing Pat Broderick of stealing campaign signs?
At what point does this type of behavior become actionable libel?
We have been close family friends with the LemMon family for over five years, and in that time, I can’t even begin to tell you the amount of pro bono work that John has done for local families that would otherwise be out of luck.
John is a smart, compassionate, family man that wants the best for Sonoma County.
He knows the law inside and out, as a defense attorney and to help those that are truly the victims that no one will fight for.
Maybe those that are supporting Broderick are getting “work” thrown at them, where as John LemMon helps all the clients that really need him.
The raw nerves he has touched.
Domestic Violence: Once Mr. LemMon exposed Mr. Broderick’s domestic violence background he probably expected the support of the community against this horrible and hidden tragedy. Knowing LemMon, he probably expected kudos for bringing these important character flaws of a candidate for judge to the public attention
Instead he got public obloquy for bringing it to the public attention, and Mr. Broderick’s classic denials, half truths, blame shifting, and discrediting tactics.
Mr. Broderick even convinced one of the Deputy District Attorney’s, a purported advocate against domestic violence and former YWCA honoree, to tacitly join in his denials; and in a bold move belying her public trust and guardianship as a prosecutor, to attack his campaign on the issue in a letter to the editor.
It never happened.
Its her fault.
She is crazy.
All the classic plays outlined by a local doctor, former clinical director of a domestic violence program, who predicted that Mr. Broderick would deny, blame and and label.
Mr. Broderick fit the profile and actions exactly as predicted by the clinician !
We later learned subrosa that Mr. Broderick was so intent on discrediting his victim, that he paid a downtown law firm to obtain a restraining order against her for another man! Thus explaining the same downtown law firms partner to write in this online blog a comment that Mr. LemMon was not playing fair, and re-asserted the denial, blame and labeling tactics (again just as the Doctor predicted).
Apparaently you CAN fool most of the people most of the time, but the voters who cast their ballots for John LemMon won’t be fooled again!
Monday 10/18 Letter to the Editor:
Can’t argue with the people that know these two candidates best…
EDITOR: We’re writing on behalf of 17 fellow deputy district attorneys, and we support Pat Broderick for Sonoma County Superior Court judge.
He has presided as judge pro-tem over numerous criminal and civil trials where he has always been fair, impartial and demonstrated an outstanding knowledge of the law. Further, Broderick is compassionate and treats all parties with dignity and respect. He is a true leader.
He is supported by 22 Sonoma County Superior Court judges and commissioners as well as the prosecutors association. It goes without saying that the best judges of character are those who know you best.
On the other hand, criminal defense lawyer John LemMon is not supported by a single Sonoma County Superior Court judge or prosecutor. In our opinion, LemMon is often erratic and unprofessional. We also deplore LemMon’s misleading mailer, which unfairly exploited the sad story of Broderick’s mentally ill former wife.
Please use your vote wisely, and vote for Pat Broderick for Superior Court judge.
KIM CLEMENT
and KEITH SHAW
Santa Rosa
I can not vote for Broderick. Anyone who has had a restraining order issued against him by two different judges for domestic violence, even if just for a day, cannot be trusted, and certainly cannot be a fair judge. The fact that he agreed to a third order seals the deal, my vote is for LemMon.
I ask all my fellow women to join me and unite against domestic violence and ask Mr. Broedrick to quit blaming the innocent victims. Enough Already !
John LemMon Victim’s Rights Attorney????
What a joke! John LemMon is a specialist in DUI
http://www.petalumasandalwood.com/johnlemmon.html
The best, honest candidate for Superior Court Judge is Broderick. I’ve done my homework!
I haven’t paid too much attention to this race; I have assumed both men are qualified lawyers, decent individuals and have strong ethics and integrity. Until now it hasn’t been clear who I would vote for.
I am not often swayed by campaign flyers, but Mr. LemMon’s flyer in today’s PD has given me a clear direction in who to vote for in November.
While Mr. LemMon may be a decent individual, after seeing his hit piece today, I have to reassess my opinion of his ethics, character and integrity. It certainly solidifies my vote for Mr. Broderick because clearly Mr. LemMon should not be on the Bench.
Mr. LemMon, you are well aware that this protective order was “vacated” and for your benefit, in case you don’t know, the legal definition of vacated means “To annul, set aside, or render void”. Which means your tactic of trying to use this situation to your advantage is shameful and unbecoming of an Officer Of The Court.
You tout yourself as a “victim’s right lawyer”, yet your flyer aggressively victimizes the victim of a frivolous domestic violence charge. And what about the impact your actions will have on the individual in this situation who is the victim of mental health problems? I guess you don’t care about that. As stated above, shameful.
As happened in the recent DA race, I hope you reap the benefits this kind of behavior deserves.
“Truth” speaks volumes to “Skeptical”. We too had a similar event happen to our daughter and John LemMon assisted us through two and a half years of anguish with endless court proceedings and painful defense strategies. John LemMon IS a victim rights attorney and clearly the better candidate. He will make the necessary changes needed in the courtroom to assist all victims who are bullied by defense tactics. He will grant speedy trials along with mandatory jail sentencing for those who are victimized by predators! And to James, obviously those who don’t endorse are too cowardly to stand up for what’s right, and to make the necessary changes that John LemMon is not afraid to make!
Pat Broderick is the ONLY reasonable candidate in this race.
Mr. LemMon’s reputation in the legal community speaks for itself. These are the people who know his work product best.
In case you don’t know what his reputation is, I’ll just clue you in by citing this one fact: There are 22 local judicial officers who endorse Mr. Broderick. Not one has endorsed LemMon.
Wow, skeptical should get to know the candidate a little better. Mr. Lemmon assisted our family as we tried to seek justice after our son was sexually assaulted “Tea bagged” by gang members at the public school he was attending. The school refusedto act and the police refused to take a report. Mr Lemmonmade them. Even though the District Attorney refuses to prosecute, Mr Lemmon helped us “The victims”
Why does Lemmon insist on hiding behind the title “Victim’s Rights Attorney” ?
Is he ashamed of being a criminal defense attorney?