Al Carrion:
I am sure Mr. Carrion is a good man. He worked as a Criminal Defense Attorney in Sacramento, stepped into a Judgeship in Colusa County for eleven years and he has spent seventeen years as a Law Professor and Dean of the Northern California School of Law in Chico. Carrion also states he has been to trial in both criminal and civil matters 100 times. Carrion's trial experience is impressive. Most attorneys, upon seeing a Judge and a jury will run to the back room and settle. Most lawyers are not litgators. Gentle reader, there is a difference. Let us examine a few other items of interest, as stated on his website and in interviews.
Carrion said "At the local level, he believes a judge's duty is not to make the law, but follow the law given to them by lawmakers". This statement is from the local rag, the Appeal-Democrat. This is reminiscent of the pontifications of one Oliver Wendell Holmes, when he interrupted a lawyer during an argument and said, "Young man, this is not a court of Justice, it is about the law and nothing more." So let's see, the Patriot Act is a law; what about the Fourth Amendment ramifications of warrants issued under the purview of the Patriot Act.
Regarding the Patriot Act, the Fourth Amendment says, " The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. I linked to this amendment so you can see how simple the wording of the Fourth Amendment is. That is unless you are some sort of law professor. Also included in the above link are "Annotations." What are annotations? It is how the Courts have whittled away at the simple wording of the above document. Would you like to see how they (the Court) do this? Just read on!
Example, the Office of Occupational Health Administration can walk onto your business or into your home office and 'inspect' for health code violations SANS (i.e., French for 'without') a warrant. This search, by a Federal Oshastopo employee or in the case of California the CAL-OSHA, ostensively to look "Health or Safety" violations sounds nobel and they do not need a warrant! They can walk onto your property or into your business and 'inspect.' How does that "jive" with Fourth Amendment? It does not!. Disgusting thing about the above scenario, is OSHA can 'discover' a......gasp, Superbowl Pool. The OSHA inspectors inform law enforcement and law enforcement goes down to the local court and gets a warrant based upon the information provided by the OSHA 'inspection.' This happens every day in the United States. This action is a direct skirting of the Fourth Amendment. Just wait gentle reader, there is more to come! Thanks to the "Patriot Act," Federal and State Law Enforcement can waltz into your bank and say, "We want to see Mr. Smith's bank account." The law enforcement people don't even have to use the word 'Terrorist," "Mafia" or "Tidily winker" The bank, with a wink and a nod simply hands over the information. oBama al-Mombasa's former Solicitor General (and current Supreme Court Justice) Elena Kagan, argued that Federal law enforcement officials do not need warrants to look at bank information, e-mail or phone records because "They have already been seen by a third party (the banks, internet providers or phone companies) because those types of businesses are defined as 'third parties,' no Fourth Amendment expectation of privacy exists. A warrant necessary." Let that last part sink in for a bit gentle reader.
It is very sad this type of tyranny by the government exists despite the clear wording of the Fourth Amendment. Is this what we are in for with Carrion as Judge? Mr Carrion has a rather impressive list of people endorsing his candidacy...many of whom are not residents of Sutter County. This list includes Virginia Black, former Sheriff of Yuba County and John J. Troughton Jr., Retired Sheriff of Colusa County. I am sure Ms. Black and Mr. Troughton are honorable people, but what business do they have endorsing a candidate for Superior Court Judge in Sutter County? Whenever an elected member of the Executive Branch (even if retired) or a current member of the Legislative branch recommends someone for election in the Judicial Branch, the fix is in. There needs to be at least the appearance of impartiality and a clear division of power.
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