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MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
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Candidates for circuit court judge spar in online debate
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Candidates vying for circuit
court judge sparred Friday in an
online town hall forum hosted by
the Harney County Chamber of
Commerce.
The three contenders —
local attorney Rob Raschio,
Grant County District Attor-
ney Jim Carpenter, and Harney
County attorney John Lamborn
— answered questions surround-
ing sentencing for repeat drug
offenders, the court’s efficiency
and why they are best suited for
the bench.
State Sen. Lynn Findley,
R-Vale, moderated and asked
the candidates about their expe-
riences, backgrounds and what
they would bring to the bench.
Carpenter said, as a member
of the community of Grant and
Harney counties, he is suited for
this area.
“We need a judge who under-
stands the situation they are in,”
Carpenter said. “One of the jokes
I made about myself as a civil
litigator was that I would not
have been able to afford myself
if I needed an attorney. We need
someone who understands that
the people can’t afford a long and
lengthy process.”
Carpenter also touted his time
as an arbitrator of cases, where he
SHERIFF POSITION WILL
BE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT
Five Grant County positions are on the ballot in 2020, but
only the race for sheriff is contested.
Incumbent Sheriff Glenn Palmer will face former un-
dersheriff Todd McKinley, the director of Grant County
Community Corrections. The race will appear on the
November ballot because state law requires the position
to be elected during the general election.
Eagle file photos
From left, Rob Raschio, John Lamborn and Jim Carpenter are vy-
ing for the circuit court judge position for Grant and Harney coun-
ties. The candidates participated in a candidate forum Friday that
was hosted by the Harney County Chamber of Commerce.
was a judge in an informal setting
and rendered decisions. He said
each of the cases heard did not go
on to higher courts, and his rul-
ings were upheld.
“I have the broadest range of
experience, the background and
the tone and the feeling of the
community,” Carpenter said.
Lamborn said he has 30 years
of legal experience and that he is
the current justice of the peace
pro tem for Harney County and
has been for about five years.
Lamborn said he hears cases
when the full-time justice of the
peace has conflicts or cannot lis-
ten to arguments.
Lamborn said he was also
chairman of the Planning Com-
mission and Housing Authority
in Harney County for eight and
three years, respectively.
Lamborn also said he was
the Oregon State Bar crimi-
nal defender, where he worked
on legislation regarding elderly
abuse prevention and worked on
a board that enforced legal ethics
rules and violations.
“I bring an incredible wealth
of information,” Lamborn said.
“Given all of that experience, I
am your best choice for circuit
court judge.”
Raschio said that he has run
two offices in Grant and Har-
ney counties for 18 years and
that he has worked on thou-
sands of cases that cover a broad
range of legal matters where a
circuit court judge needs to be
knowledgeable.
“I’ve served in statewide
leadership roles in the Oregon
State Bar and gained a deeper
understanding of the law,” he
said.
Also on the November ballot will be the county treasur-
er position, where incumbent Treasurer Julie Ellison is
running unopposed.
Assessor David Thunell, County Commissioner Jim
Hamsher and County Surveyor Michael Springer — all
incumbents — are running unopposed for reelection and
will appear on the May primary ballot.
Raschio noted his time as a
Grant County commissioner,
Burns city councilor and justice
of the peace pro tem.
“I understand the thorny
issues around the public, private
interface,” he said.
Raschio said, as a Grant
County commissioner, he drafted
the objection to the revised forest
plan that was heavily contested
by the community.
The candidates were asked
how they would deal with youth
that come before them in court.
Lamborn said, if elected
Judge, the rules for youth would
be applied differently than they
would for an adult.
Rob Raschio says he is most
invested in the community
Jim Carpenter says he is the John Lamborn says he’s the
most conservative candidate most experienced candidate
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Jim Carpenter, Grant
County’s current district attor-
ney, said he is the most con-
servative of the three candi-
dates running for circuit court
judge.
Carpenter said conserva-
tives in the legal community
were concerned that there was
not a conservative voice run-
ning for the bench. Carpenter
said there is a lot of concern
about the threat to citizens’
Second Amendment gun
rights.
“I am an active shooter,”
Carpenter said. “I go to a gun
club. I enjoy those activities.
I don’t hunt too much, but I
enjoy shooting and hanging
out with people that do.”
“There is quite a variance
in support of Second Amend-
ment rights,” he added. “There
is your Joe Biden: ‘I sup-
port the Second Amendment,
everybody can have a hunt-
ing rifle, and I’m taking every-
thing else, but you can have
a hunting rifle.’ I think that’s
closer to where my opponents
are.”
Carpenter said there are fel-
ons and people with mental ill-
ness who should not have fire-
arms, but he said law-abiding
people who want a gun should
have the right to have one.
“I think my opponents
would absolutely uphold gun
restrictions as long as some-
body had their hunting rifle,”
Carpenter said. “I would be
more on the other end that, if
you qualify for gun ownership,
you can have whatever it is you
can buy now.”
He said
there
are
“unchecked”
meth, heroin
and cocaine
problems in
the commu-
nity and that
Jim
Carpe nter
there
has
been legisla-
tion in the last few years that
has made possession of almost
every controlled substances a
misdemeanor if there are no
other factors involved. Carpen-
ter said his opponents had sup-
ported the legislation, while he
did not.
Carpenter said the trend is
getting people help for posses-
sion of controlled substances
and drug addiction, and he
does not object to that, but he
said drug offenders need to
have consequences as well. Or
else, he said, people will con-
tinue breaking the law.
“I think there needs to be a
consequence and a program,
as opposed to just program-
ming,” Carpenter said. “I think
that is one of the areas where
we differ in our strategies.”
Carpenter said he is all for
helping people get better.
“I don’t like to see people
in trouble,” Carpenter said. “I
like to see people succeed.”
He said he is not about
sending people to jail and
forgetting about them, but
at the same time those, who
break the law need to pay the
consequences.
Carpenter said, should he
win, he would be a “new sher-
iff in town,” for lack of a bet-
ter term, from day one. He said
there would be stricter conse-
quences and opportunities for
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Circuit court judge candidate
John Lamborn said, while the
judge is a nonpartisan position,
he is a very pro-First Amendment
candidate.
He said people’s reluctance in
Grant County to talk about their
political preferences surprised him
in that regard.
“I’m very pro-First Amend-
ment,” Lamborn said. “I think
everybody should feel free to
express themselves.”
Lamborn said he is very
pro-Second Amendment as well.
He said he is a gun owner and a
hunter. He said Second Amend-
ment rights are an essential part
of the fabric of society in Eastern
Oregon.
“I don’t want anybody trying
to take my guns away,” Lamborn
said “Although, as judge, if the law
requires me to do whatever the law
requires me to do, I’ll be required
to do it, absent whatever my per-
sonal preference is. I’d follow
the law as it relates to the Second
Amendment.”
Lamborn said he understands
people’s frustration with repeat
offenders in the legal system.
He said misdemeanors, prop-
erty theft and burglaries are primar-
ily a problem in many communi-
ties. Lamborn said these crimes
stem from lack of employment and
lack of education.
Lamborn said, as judge, he
would work with those offenders
to “reach into themselves” to fig-
ure out how not to commit those
crimes in the future. Lamborn
said, if elected circuit court judge,
he would tackle docket issues on
day one. He said a majority of the
cases that come through the 24th
“Kids are kids,” he said.
“Kids don’t have frontal lobe
development. They act without
thinking.”
Lamborn said the child that
comes before him in his court
would learn something and will
not just be punished.
Raschio said that youth
should be treated thoughtfully.
He said, as adults, people are
responsible for the upbringing of
their kids, and that includes the
community. He said those who
make mistakes, intentionally or
otherwise, will need to be held
accountable.
He said the Harney County
teen court, which he is involved
with, has been successful in
rehabilitating youth offenders
through peer modeling.
“For kids who are accused for
more serious offenses, I’ll fol-
low the law,” Raschio said. “I
will also focus on parents. I’m
going to be asking them ques-
tions about how their kids got
in front of this court, and I’ll be
outlining expectations for them
about what I’ll expect them to do
so their children make changes.”
Carpenter said there are two
types of juvenile court cases.
The first is a dependency case,
where there are issues of the par-
enting of the child. The other is
the juvenile system, where there
is a crime committed by the
child. Carpenter said, in depen-
dency cases, the priority should
be to protect the child. He said, in
those cases, hard decisions have
to be made about whether they
should be with their parent or
somewhere else.
Carpenter said he has been
involved in dependency cases as
district attorney and a civil litiga-
tor for 17 years.
“I’m able to make those hard
decisions about what is best for a
child,” he said.
Carpenter said he agreed with
Raschio and Lamborn on juve-
nile system cases in that he will
work to change the behavior of
children who commit crimes.
Judicial Dis-
trict are crim-
inal cases and
that civil mat-
ters, such as
divorces and
custody cases,
John
take a back-
Lamborn
seat to crimi-
nal cases.
“Those are the cases that tend to
languish,” he said.
Lamborn said, as judge, he
would put those cases on a faster
track.
“I would work hard to, at least
once a month, to have what I
would call a divorce-apalooza, and
get those cases all wrangled into a
single date,” Lamborn said.
Lamborn said the court spends
a lot of valuable attorney time to
manage calendars and when the
next dates are going to happen.
“I’m not sure that is the kind of
thing that needs to happen on the
record, like it does now,” Lamborn
said.
Lamborn said he would desig-
nate someone to coordinate dates
to give the public certainty about
when their court dates will take
place. Lamborn said what sets him
apart from the other two candidates
is his experience. Lamborn said he
has practiced law longer than both
of his opponents.
“I have seen a wide range of
cases over my 30 years,” Lamborn
said. “I have really seen the gamut
of issues. The criminal law is one
thing, but I have been involved in
a huge number of domestic-rela-
tions cases. I’ve been involved in
water-rights matters, hunting viola-
tions kinds of cases — I can’t even
tell you how many of these kinds
of cases I’ve seen over the years.”
Lamborn said his experience
sets him apart from his competitors.
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
Local attorney Rob Raschio
said his campaign for circuit
court judge has received over 200
endorsements from across the state.
Raschio told the Eagle he
was looking forward to knock-
ing on doors in Grant and Har-
ney County, but due to the global
pandemic and social distanc-
ing, he had to pivot to online
communication.
“I was looking forward to
getting out and meeting people,”
Raschio said.
Raschio said, throughout his
campaign, he has heard people
are concerned about the revolv-
ing doors in the criminal justice
system.
“How do we get people to
stop recidivating? It is a peren-
nial question,” Raschio said.
Raschio said people need to
be given the right tools when
they are released from jail or
prison.
“We have, first, to give people
a chance to succeed,” Raschio
said. “We have to tell them they
have an opportunity to succeed
and tell them there are conse-
quences if they don’t, and if they
don’t succeed, then we’ll have to
put them in jail for as long as we
can. Why do we have to do that?
Because that is what the com-
munity requires of us. Why do
we have to do that? Because that
is what public safety requires
of us, and they need to recog-
nize that people deem them and
think of them as a threat to the
community.”
Raschio said the job of a
judge is to help people find and
identify services for felons who
come out of
jail or prison.
Raschio said,
if he were
judge,
he
would like to
see Commu-
Rob
nity Counsel-
Raschio
ing Solutions
and
Sym-
metry Care in Burns at the time
of sentencing and he would do
“warm hand-offs.”
Raschio said he has been
engaged with the community at
every level, from his time on the
Grant County Court as a com-
missioner, to having two kids in
the Grant School District.
“I am engaged with young
people, and I am very bought-in
to the notion that our streets need
to be safe, because I’ve got to be
sure the kids are safe,” Raschio
said. “My kids, my friends’ kids,
all of my kids’ classmates, all of
the kids in this community and
down in Harney County.”
Raschio said he has demon-
strated that by purchasing ani-
mals from 4-H kids to sponsor-
ing baseball teams.
“I’m here, and I care and
I want to make a difference,”
Raschio said. “And I want to
lead, and I want to lead through
example.”
Raschio also noted his legal
background and principles.
“I have been the president
of the Oregon Criminal Defense
Lawyers Association, a state-
wide organization, and I advo-
cated for open government,”
Raschio said. “That’s because its
a principle that I hold dear to me:
no secrecy, open government,
open court systems. I don’t hide
the ball.”
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grantcountycovid.com
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• The Grant County Draft Reopening Plan for Phase 1 is now available for you to view.
House District 60
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the Grant County Health Department.
Ballots Due May 19
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restrictions, health information to assist keeping you and your family safe.
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I am the descendant of early settlers of Baker and Grant Counties
who came to Oregon in the late 1800s. I want to see our quality of
life maintained with good stewardship of our natural resources while
providing leadership in seeking ways to still preserve the livelihoods
of those who depend upon the land.
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Please visit the NEW website: grantcountycovid.com
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