Wrapping up Red County's coverage of all the judicial races will be my profile of Barry Collins who is running for Superior Court Judge, Office No. 8 against Jon Fish.

Barry Collins is in a very unique position of having the ballot title of "Administrative Law Judge".  Between that and Deputy District Attorney, I am not sure which ballot title is better.

As of the March 17 financial report, Collins raised a meager $11,775 and loaned the campaign $17,000.  He already spent $24,821 on the filing fee and candidate statement.  His cash on hand is $3,953.  By looking at these numbers, one could conclude that Collins doesn't have a lot of resources compared to his opponent.

In fact, Collins and his wife Jorden are running the campaign themselves without a consultant or any hired help.  They have some trusted advisers like Peter Godfrey and Eric Levine, but that's about it.  This is truly a grassroot effort.

He's clearly not politically connected to either parties.  A look at his endorsement list will tell you that aside from a dozen or so friends and colleagues, Collins does not have any endorsement from well-known elected officials or judges.

Yesterday I was approached via email by Collins who wanted an opportunity to respond to some of the statements made by Jon Fish on Red County.

I hope you, the readers, are ready for some fireworks because there are plenty of it coming up.

When I asked Barry Collins by the voters of Orange County should elect him Judge over his opponent:

I know that I will make an excellent Judge because I already am one.  I have been a Administrative Law Judge for over three years and I have tried hundreds of cases.  I have been upheld by the State Courts of Appeal and by the State Supreme Court.  I have experience on both sides of the bar as well.  Before becoming a Judge, I was previously a defense attorney for over seven years and then I ran my own plaintiff's practice for over six years. I have lived in Orange County for 27 years and I am a lifelong Republican voter.  I am a Certified Specialist by the State Bar of California which is an honor bestowed only on experienced and knowledgeable attorneys.  I am a fair, ethical, and impartial judge and I have shown that I have the proper calm demeanor that is required of a judge. As I have previously stated many times, I believe that a Judge's role is to apply the law and not to create it.  The Legislature is the branch of government that creates the law.  I am not an activist Judge.

My opponent, Jon Fish, on the other hand, has only been on one side of the law his entire career.  He has always been a prosecutor and he has no idea what it is like to be on the other side or to be a judge. It is often hard for attorneys to overcome this type of tunnel vision and to become impartial.  Mr. Fish is also very well connected politically.  A judge can not be beholden to political interests or to his major donors.  A judge must be fair and impartial and apply the law to the specific facts of that case.

I am also deeply concerned and saddened by Mr. Fish's ethics, or lack thereof, and you and the voters should be as well.  In his profile/attack piece posted here a day or so ago, he wrote numerous things about me that were absolutely untrue.  He also misrepresented my qualifications to be a judge.  In doing so, Mr. Fish has violated the Judicial Code of Ethics, specifically Canon 5, multiple times. I am considering a report to the State Bar and to the Commission on Judicial Performance.  Mr. Fish may not know that he is bound, as a judicial candidate, to follow the Judicial Code of Ethics but he is.  He has also answered many specific issue questions during the campaign such as what his stand on same sex marriage is, and in doing so, he has committed himself on an issue that may come before the court, another ethical violation.  I would never vote for someone for judge who does not know or follow the ethical rules and you should not either.

My opponent stated that I have never appeared in Superior Court.  That is absolutely false.  I was appearing in Superior Court before he was even in law school. He has either not done any research before publishing such incorrect information about my qualifications, or worse, he intentionally misrepresented the facts for his own personal gain.  Either way, it is an ethics violation and probably libelous.  You do not want a judge who makes decisions without the facts.  I hope he has not put anyone in prison with such a lack of effort to find the truth.  You do not want this type of performance from a judge.

On who is his favorite Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court:

I know you've heard it many times but I would pick John Roberts.  He is a brilliant man and what impressed me most was the way he held himself out during the blistering attacks at his confirmation hearing.  John Roberts took the ethical rules seriously and did not answer the specific issue questions that he was not supposed to address, unlike Mr. Fish.

Was that a not so-subtle attack?

On his opponent's claim that the ballot title "Administrative Law Judge" is misleading because that is not a real judicial judge but more like a referee:

No, that is yet another false statement by Mr. Fish.  I am an Administrative Law Judge for the State of California and I handle Workers' Compensation cases.  We are a legal court of record in the State and that issue has been stated clearly by the Supreme Court of California.  We are not referees and we are not like DMV employees as my opponent stated.  We also do not "arbitrate" cases.  The attorneys litigate the cases and we as judges preside over them. We hold trials, swear in witnesses, take testimony, judge credibility, weigh evidence, and make decisions, the same things a Judge does in Superior Court in a bench trial.  We do not have juries in our trials but they are indeed trials nonetheless.  Our decisions may be appealed up to the State Courts of Appeal and to the State Supreme Court.  And, unlike Mr. Fish, who, by his own admission, has been relieved of his caseload by his boss, the DA, in order to campaign (at Taxpayer Expense??), I am in court working my caseload everyday.

The timing of Mr. Fish's attack on my ballot title is interesting, coming right before the election.  He had the chance in February to challenge my use of that title and he did not do so. The reason he didn't challenge it is that he has no grounds to.  The use of the title of Administrative Law Judge is legally permissible and 100% accurate because that is what I am.  There are published Court of Appeal decisions on this issue and my use of the ballot designation was approved by the Orange County Counsel's office.  My opponent is also attacking my ballot statement claiming it is misleading. I believe the words he used were "hog wash". Again, he had the right to challenge that statement before it was published but he did not do so.  He has no grounds to.  I have never been vague or misleading about anything in this campaign.  I tell the truth and act ethically.  I wish all of the candidates would do the same

On his worker's compensation background and readiness to be a Superior Court Judge:

The Workers' Compensation system in California is one of the most complex and confusing areas of law in the State as any practitioner who has any knowledge about the system will tell you.  There has been a series of Legislative reforms and there are several sets of laws operating simultaneously. My opponent has no idea what we do. He refers to it as "minor and petty issues".  Tell the people whose very livelihood is threatened by a severe injury that their problems are minor and petty. Tell that to the employer who is about to lose his business because of a fraudulent claim. Thank goodness we have helped to virtually eliminate that fraud.  We deal with cases everyday involving thousands and sometimes millions of dollars.  These are hardly minor or petty.  Workers' Compensation is a recognized Specialty area of the law by the State Bar of California, one of only a limited number of areas so recognized.  The issues presented in our cases are very similar to those found in the personal injury cases in Superior Court.  We are dealing daily with issues such as medical reporting, extent of injury, loss of wages, illegal terminations and serious and willful misconduct.  We also deal with discovery issues including Petitions for Joinder, Dismissals, Sanctions, Motions to Compel, and Motions for Dismissal.  These issues are very similar to Civil cases in Superior Court. In fact, Civil cases, not Criminal cases, make up the majority of the caseload in Superior Court. My experience will translate well to the Superior Court.  I look forward to the opportunity to continue my public service there as your next Superior Court Judge.

For more information on the Barry Collins for Judge campaign, please visit http://barrycollinsforjudge.com.

Thank you for reading, I hope you, the Red County readers, enjoyed our coverage of the judicial races so far. I will still be putting any campaign literatures from the candidates as they come in.

To view past profiles of other judicial candidates, just click on their names: Mike Flory, KC Jones, Debra Carrillo, Nick Thompson, Mike Bartlett, and Jon Fish.

If you have any suggestions or feedbacks, please email them to Scott@redcounty.com, Matt@redcounty.com or myself -- tomahawk@redcounty.com.