Idaho Statesman endorsement: Three candidates in district judge race | Opinion

In a rare contested race for a district judge position, voters in Idaho’s Fourth Judicial District have three candidates to choose from.

Each of the candidates — David Morse, Jeffrey Street and Greg Woodard — brings unique qualifications and types of experience to the race, and we found few differences in their answers to the editorial board’s interview questions.

Each candidate appears to be qualified and brings the right attitude about judicial temperament and impartiality required of a judge.

But we were more impressed with some of the answers of Street, who also earned the highest score in the Idaho State Bar’s survey of attorneys and judges on the qualifications of judicial candidates for contested races.

The Idaho Statesman editorial board endorses Jeffrey Street for district judge in Idaho’s Fourth Judicial District.

In our interview with him, Street came across as being the most empathetic while also insisting on following the law as written and explaining his decision in those terms.

He also gave his take on judicial activism as being a product of Congress not being able to accomplish much, recognizing that parties are seeking ways around lawmakers by getting the courts to rule based on outcomes — not the law.

Street also said that, if elected, he would like to work on improving consistency in scheduling civil litigation to reduce the number of hearings, moving away from business as usual to getting judges on the same page to make the process better for litigants.

The Fourth Judicial District covers Ada, Boise, Elmore and Valley counties. Contested elections for district judges in Idaho are rare. Most seats are typically filled through uncontested primaries or retention votes rather than competitive races. District judges serve four-year terms and face nonpartisan primaries where a majority vote can decide the seat outright, with only the top two advancing to the general if no one exceeds 50% — yet many races lack challengers altogether.

Incumbents often run unopposed, with vacancies filled by gubernatorial appointment followed by an election.

Idaho State Bar survey

When there’s a contested election, the Idaho State Bar conducts a survey, asking respondents to evaluate candidates using a four-point scale across four areas: integrity and independence, knowledge and understanding of the law, judicial temperament and demeanor, and legal ability and experience.

The responses come from members of the bar who have had professional interactions with these candidates. Respondents rate each candidate on whether the candidate does not meet expectations, is average for the position, above average or exceeds expectations.

Street earned the highest overall score of 3.48, which is between above average and exceeds expectations, with 156 total responses.

Morse received an overall score of 3.1, which is close to above average, with 138 responses.

Woodard, meanwhile, had the lowest score of 2.54, which is between average and above average, with 58 responses.

The candidates’ experience

Street earned his law degree from the University of Idaho College of Law in 2012 after receiving his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 2009.

He’s been a litigation attorney for Litster Frost Injury Lawyers and an assistant attorney with Gjording Fouser, both in Boise.

He spent five years with BNSF Railway in Dallas-Forth Worth, doing primarily workforce management and labor relations work, and was an associate attorney for a firm in Colorado.

He was a legal extern for Judge Randy Smith, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

He said he’s handled several types of cases, including medical malpractice (both as defense and plaintiff attorney), insurance defense, personal injury, sexual abuse and voyeurism cases, defamation defense, family law, wrongful death and fair housing discrimination, among others.

Morse, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, earned his law degree in 2016 from the University of Idaho.

He emphasizes his prosecutorial experience as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the past five years and as former Deputy Attorney General, from 2016-21, in Idaho’s Special Prosecutions Unit, handling federal crimes such as drug trafficking, fraud, public corruption and violent offenses.

Woodard has 26-plus years in public and private practice, including the past three years in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office.

He has handled a broad range of cases, including constitutional cases defending Idaho’s election laws, death penalty matters and civil disputes for businesses ranging from small owners to large companies. He has worked for several law firms, including his own, in Idaho and prior to 2019, in California. He earned his law degree in 1999 from the UCLA School of Law.

In a field of experienced, qualified candidates, it might be hard to choose one candidate over the others. But voters must choose one, and Street gets our recommendation.

Statesman editorials are the opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, assistant editor Jim Keyser and community members John Hess, Debbie McCormick and Julie Yamamoto.