18 May 2010
ROOSEVELT TO RUN FOR CALEDONIA COUNTY ASSISTANT JUDGE
Stannard resident, Michael Roosevelt, has announced his candidacy for Caledonia County assistant judge on the Republican ticket. Roosevelt is a law clerk at Deborah T. Bucknam & Associates in St. Johnsbury and an adjunct professor at Lyndon State College. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Carnegie-Mellon University and a Master's degree from Temple University. Currently he is enrolled in Vermont's Four Year Law Office Study Program and will be eligible to take the Vermont Bar Exam in 2011. (The position of assistant judge is written into the Vermont Constitution and does not require that assistant judges be attorneys. Assistant judges are given thorough legal training before they hear cases.)
Roosevelt's decision to run for assistant judge was prompted by the prolonged debate leading up to the recently passed act restructuring Vermont's judicial system. The original bill, as passed by the Vermont House, would have eliminated most of the elected assistant judge's judicial functions at a time when the courts' functions have been hampered by budget cut-backs and a reduced number of presiding judges. Roosevelt calls attention to the fact that Rule 1 of the Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure calls for the rules to be construed, and the courts to be administered, "to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action." This concept is the basis of his campaign.
He notes that assistant judges will continue to sit with presiding judges as a "mini jury" to assist in findings of fact (not matters of law) in civil and family matters; to hear uncontested divorces; to hear traffic cases in the Judicial Bureau; and generally to maintain a voice for voters within the judicial system . (The judicial reform act will eventually put an end to assistant judges hearing small claims cases.) Assistant judges also have administrative functions at the county level.
For over twenty-five years, Roosevelt was the administrator and special projects director for a non-profit organization with branches in the USA, Italy, Japan and Brazil. Since moving to Vermont in 1996, he has served as a justice of the peace, town auditor, town agent, and grand juror. He served as president of the Heart of Vermont Chamber of Commerce in 2009.
Roosevelt believes that he is
a viable candidate for the assistant judge position based on his
work experience and his willingness to examine new ways of solving
problems faced by the courts. He notes that although the position
of assistant judge has won a reprieve in the form of the judicial
reform act, assistant judges will be forced to change with the
times due to the state's economic situation and continued pressure
to make Vermont resemble every other state in the union.
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