LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor’s note: David Stevens is a candidate for Mason County Superior Court judge. The Journal does not allow original letters from candidates for public office during election season. This letter is being allowed because it’s a direct rebuttal to several previous letters to the editor.

Legal experience

Editor, the Journal,

No judge is an expert on every area of law. What you look for in a judge is discernment, judgment and experience. Supporters of my opponent have written to the Journal that they believe that I only know criminal law, so they think I am not qualified for superior court. While I am not an expert in every type of law, there are many areas I have experience in. I know a lot about civil-rights law having been a federal civil rights investigator. I also have experience in military law having served honorably in the U.S. Navy. I have prosecuted and tried cases in Kosovo, so I know quite a bit about international law. Additionally, I have a certificate in Islamic jurisprudence from when I worked as an attorney in Afghanistan. Ask your neighbors who have endorsed me. Community leaders like Drew MacEwan, Travis Couture, Melissa Upson and Bob Rogers, as well as the Shelton Police Guild and Fraternal Order of Police why they believe that my extensive and proven record more than qualifies me to be your judge. Please vote for Dave Stevens on Nov. 7.

David Stevens, Shelton

There’s no mystery

Editor, the Journal,

Donna Holliday and I are definitely at odds. In the June 22 Journal I shot down her argument about transgender male athletes injuring smaller girls. She abandoned that argument. Now she attacked me again (the “letter writer”) in the July 27 Journal. This time her left-wing rant includes a “new religious orthodoxy” from “evangelical Christians directed by the Republican Party” on LBGTQ issues. There’s no conspiracy; LBGTQ is an adult decision. The left becomes hateful whenever we disagree on woke cancel culture issues and even more hateful when they lose the argument. Perhaps they should cancel their own culture agenda. Society doesn’t allow kids to buy guns, beer, cigarettes or sign contracts because they’re too young and immature to make rational decisions, yet some believe they can have gender changing surgery on request. A kid’s gender is found through blood tests, X-rays, ultra-sounds – even when changing dirty diapers. There’s no mystery. Yet we have mutilation surgery on children.

Recent congressional hearings for gender-reassignment victims show the damage caused. One victim said an advocate told her parents to allow gender-affirming surgery by saying “you can either have a dead daughter or a gender-reassigned son.” This victim says she’ll never be able to breast-feed her child and may not even be able to have kids. That advocate should be sent to prison for child endangerment, child abuse and child molestation.The left seems to push gender change surgery without regard to long-term consequences. Why can’t the requesting child wait until they’re 18? Then they can make legal decisions for themselves. Gender changing surgery does irreparable and irreversible harm to physically and emotionally immature children. Let’s let kids be kids and dream their dreams.

Ardean Anvik, Shelton

We’re still waiting

Editor, the Journal,

Mr. Duenkel, our county auditor, whose campaign motto was “integrity” and “transparency,” has failed for the umpteenth time to answer the question of how many fraudulent votes were cast in Mason County in the November 2022 election and what deemed them fraudulent. The voters of Mason County are still awaiting an honest and clear reply.

Craig Anderson, Shelton

Being and loving

Editor, the Journal,

Tell me, Donna, is the LGBTQ community supportive of a Judeo/Christian proclamation supporting the right to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman; a month celebrating heterosexual pride? Of course not. This community does not want equality, they want exceptionality.

Your “new religious orthodoxy” statement shows lack of understanding on being Christian. Christ taught us to love one another, regardless of who or what we are; to accept all God’s children, saints and sinners alike. If we cannot, we are not of him (not Christian). I assure you, with the exception of a few, most Christians and Republicans don’t give a hoot who people choose to love or be, but we do get tired of being called bigoted and evil for not condoning what is against our beliefs and having adult behavior and literature shoved down our children’s throats in schools. According to liberals, no one under 21 should own a gun because their brain isn’t fully developed to make decisions, yet our schools obsess with gender identity, sexualizing our children, encouraging kids to believe they can choose to be any sex of the dozens created, even encouraging surgical or chemical changes, further confusing what is already a vulnerable period for a developing child. Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law allowing kids to go to a safe house for “gender assignment care” without telling their parents. The president and many in Congress blast GOP as evil in not supporting gender reassignment procedures for children. Incredible!

Not revealed on liberal media are the suicide statistics and testimonies of many young people having had such surgical/chemical gender reassignment very young, then realizing that really isn’t who they are; now forever castrated or deprived of normalcy from puberty-blocking drugs. To hear these recent testimonies on Capitol Hill is heartbreaking. 

Katie Groves, Shelton

Choice is clear

Editor, the Journal,

There are a number of to questions to ask when considering what kind of judge you want sitting on the Mason County Superior Court bench. Here are a few.

Do you want a judge who is fair and impartial? Or do you want a judge who has strong biases?

Do you want a judge who is interested and experienced in civil and criminal law? Or, do you want a judge who has said he “has no interest in civil law?” (Interview by Board of Okanogan County Commissioners on Jan. 11, 2021, approximately minute 39.)

Do you want a judge who has demonstrated stability in employment? Or do you want a judge who has had numerous employers and left many due to either his or his employers’ dissatisfaction? (Eight in the past 10 years. See applications to Governor’s Office for judicial appointment, March 2022)?

Do you want a judge who is respected by her peers and has been appointed first by the judges of Mason County as court commissioner, then as superior court judge by the governor after review of applications, writing samples and letters of recommendation? Or do you want a judge who is a perpetual politician who has unsuccessfully sought appointment or election to several positions in Spokane, Okanogan and Mason counties over the years? See The Spokesman-Review, July 23, 2010, Methow Valley News, Jan. 20, 2021, and application to the Governor’s Office.

Do you want a judge with over two years of state judicial training and experience? Or do you want a judge with no judicial training or experience? The choice is clear: Judge Cadine Ferguson-Brown is the only candidate with:

• Demonstrated fairness and impartiality.

• Interest and experience in civil and criminal law.

• Stability in employment.

• Respected by her peers (Endorsement from active and retired judges across the state as well as Mason County Superior Court judges).

Judge Cadine Ferguson-Brown is the only candidate with judicial training and experience.

Marcia Hamilton, Hoodsport

Uniquely qualified

Editor, the Journal,

I write to endorse Cadine Ferguson-Brown for Mason County Superior Court judge. I am the senior associate attorney with a prominent workers’ compensation defense firm here in Washington. I had the honor and pleasure of working closely with Cadine as of-counsel for our firm. Workers’ compensation defense was a new area of law for Cadine at that time, but she proved to be tireless, highly astute and a quick study. But just as pertinent to her strengths as a judge, Cadine proved herself to be remarkably fair, objective, and free of political or ideological baggage when approaching our cases. In my appellate and litigation experience, those virtues are not nearly as prevalent as one might hope for. Cadine is a rare kind of individual in her competence, knowledge and demeanor, which uniquely qualifies her as an exceptional judge that should be voted to retain her seat in Mason County. Mason County deserves no less. Thank you for your time and consideration. 

William Pratt, Poulsbo