Candidate Q&A: Ninth Judicial District Court Judge

Editor’s note: Angelina Baca of Clovis is the Democratic challenger to Republican Matthew Chandler, who was appointed last year to be a district judge. Appointed judges must run in the next election cycle to retain their seat. The winner of that election then only faces retention elections to keep his or her seat. Candidates were asked the same questions, with neither candidate receiving questions in advance, and were asked to refrain from criticizing their opponent.

Matthew Chandler

Matt Chandler

Matthew Chandler is the Republican candidate for the Ninth Judicial District Court judge in Curry and Roosevelt counties.

He currently fills the position, having replaced Judge Stephen Quinn in August 2015.

Chandler was an attorney for 14 years, operating a private law firm for 15 months and serving as the Ninth Judicial District Attorney from 2002 to 2014. He was the youngest DA to be elected in New Mexico at 27 years old.

Whatever your party affiliation and background, what do you feel it takes to remain in a neutral mind frame as a judge?

I’ve spent over a decade serving as a district attorney and striving to protect the rights for our citizens to make it a safer community. What I do as a judge is no different.

Every day, I do my best to rule in a way that protects our constitutional rights, and listening is a key factor to this. Every time I enter the courtroom, I do so with an open mind. It is important to treat all parties with respect and fairness. As DA and when I served in a private practice, party affiliation was never something considered when rendering justice, and that philosophy doesn’t change when you take the bench.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing the criminal justice system today?

I feel the biggest challenge is the number of cases we have filed with courts. One of my priorities is to protect and uphold the sixth amendment, which is the right to a speedy trial.

When cases are resolved in a reasonable time frame, it not only benefits the accused and the alleged victims but the community as a whole. A fair and timely resolution is usually the first step in justice for those involved in any case. Whether it is a criminal case or a domestic matter or a civil matter, a speedy trial is extremely important.

I also think it’s important to improve the efficiency surrounding jury duty. Jury duty is of the utmost importance in our system but is often viewed as a burden by those who are selected to serve as jurors, so the challenge is to make the most out of the time the jurors spend with us and treat jurors with as much respect as possible so that the time they do spend at the courthouse is as productive as possible.

What are your views on sentencing laws in the state of New Mexico compared to other states?

Sentencing reform is an issue that is best handled by the Legislature, and it’s my job as a judge to sentence in accord with the laws we have in New Mexico. When I’m involved in a sentencing, I’m focused on three issues: Deterrents, restitution and rehabilitation.

With each conviction, it’s important to determine what a fair sentence is for all involved. I believe in deterrents, and depending on the act, an adult that is convicted has to face the consequences that will hopefully keep that person from re-offending. It’s also important to try to make the victim whole again, if possible. For example, if something is stolen from a person, that person should have his or her property replaced by the offender. As far as rehabilitation, whether it involves substance abuse, parental classes or anger management, it is important to structure the sentence in a way that gives the person convicted an opportunity to rehabilitate with the hopes that they can one day contribute to society in a positive manner once their sentence is completed.

If you could change one thing in the New Mexico criminal justice system, what would it be?

If I had a magic wand and could change one thing, it would be that we don’t need a criminal justice system, that people would treat each other with respect and dignity, and in an perfect world, we wouldn’t need the system or the laws that we have in place in order to protect each other.

What makes you the best candidate for Ninth Judicial District judge?

I’d say my experience and my passion for the job. My father served as a police officer for over 20 years, so when I was a little boy, I couldn’t wait for him to come home and hear about what he did each day, so following reports became a passion of mine at an early age.

When I was 15 years old, the late Judge (Bill) Bonem asked if I wanted to volunteer for him and try and set up a program called teen court, which is a program that still exists today. I did so, and that was confirmation for me that I wanted to have a career in the legal system.

I graduated from ENMU with a criminal justice degree and went to law school (at University of Tulsa) with full intentions of coming back to my hometown to work as a prosecutor, which I was able to do as the DA for over a decade. Last summer when Judge (Stephen) Quinn retired, several people encouraged me to put my name in for the vacancy. I did so along with several very qualified candidates. After a thorough vetting process and interview, I was honored to receive a unanimous recommendation by the bipartisan committee, which consisted of several local attorneys, judges and other officials involved in our state court. I was fortunate to receive the appointment and feel truly blessed to serve in this position. To me, it’s a passion, and I don’t take it for granted.

Now with regard to experience, I’ve tried over 70 jury trials and have a strong understanding of the law and our rules of procedure. I have experience in cases from civil matters to handling cases involving the death penalty. I think it’s extremely important to understand case law, and I have experience in exercising the system both as a lawyer and a judge. When all parties involved, including the judge, are well versed in their role, the outcome is usually correct and justice is served.

Angelina Baca

Angelina Baca is the Democratic candidate for the Ninth Judicial District Court judge in Curry and Roosevelt counties.

She has been the sole proprietor of the Baca Law Firm in Clovis since 2007, practicing criminal defense, family law, personal injury and social security law.

Prior to opening her private practice, she served as the managing attorney of the Clovis Legal Aid office and as an attorney for the New Mexico Child Support Enforcement Division.

Angelina Baca

She also currently serves as a Curry County commissioner.

Whatever your party affiliation and background, what do you feel it takes to remain in a neutral mind frame as a judge?

Really, politics doesn’t play a part as a judicial candidate or as a judge. The judicial laws are very specific that you can’t sit as a chair of the Republican party or Democratic party. There are specific rules one has to abide by. You just have to be really careful that you don’t have the appearance of impropriety, because I think impropriety is what people look at.

Politics has no room in the courtroom. I think that’s one of the reasons I’m running.

What do you feel is the biggest challenge facing the criminal justice system today?

I can tell you that locally what I see happening is a couple of things.

Because we are in a community that has a United States Air Force Base in our midst, we deal with veterans that come back from war zones, who end up in the criminal justice system. Having said that, I feel our community, particularly the Ninth Judicial District Court, needs to put a program in place. Nationwide, there are metropolitan areas that have military court.

You just have a regular court system, but you have a teen court. What do you want with teens? You want them to stop the behavior, so you treat them in order to make that happen. The same with drug court. Whatever it is, you create a program that is going to address the underlying issues. What’s the underlying issues with our veterans? They’ve come back from war and they’ve seen things we can’t imagine seeing. We’re talking not just physical issues; we’re talking psychological issues. I think we need to form a military court that deals with those things.

You go into this program for nine months and you take out the criminal element and you deal with the underlying issue. They don’t come back. You may have saved a life. As an attorney, I deal with a lot of clients who have criminal charges and they need help.

Another issue is people remaining in jail for long periods of time, because they can’t afford their bail. This is one of the things on our ballot in this election. It’s a reality; our jails are filled with people who should be able to be bailed out and they’re not. Ultimately, we need to protect our citizens, but we also need to be smart, because if someone can’t bail out who isn’t a harm could lose their jobs and their home lives could fall apart. It’s risk versus the ability to pay.

Right now, the way the amendment is written, it is not tight enough. I think the criteria is still too vague. I think it still needs to be tweaked and tightened up a little bit.

What are your views on sentencing laws in the state of New Mexico compared to other states?

I can’t speak to a lot of other states, because I have not practiced law in a lot of other states. I believe that for a long time, our drug sentencing — the three strikes and you’re out — became a national model, so our jails and prisons became filled with people with drug charges. I don’t necessarily believe that this is a winning situation, because who is winning?

Again, it goes back to special programs. When people are in drug court or juvenile court — let’s deal with that. Drugs are bad, but I think it boils down to the habitual. In the state of New Mexico, if you have a habitual felon, the sentencing becomes stricter and it should, I believe. Is it harsh? Yes it is, but it’s there for a reason. I think that the bottom line, as a judge, it doesn’t matter how feel, because you have to apply the law, and that’s the bottom line. When there is statutory law, you apply it. There is not opinion that goes into it. You follow the law as it is.

If you could change one thing in the New Mexico criminal justice system, what would it be?

There’s hot button issues that are going on currently in the state of New Mexico, such as child pornography and child abuse. Those are things that are near and dear to people’s hearts.

I don’t think that there’s one specific answer for such issues.

The powers that be in the judicial system need to fully enforce the sentences of those people at every level before they’re released, so that dangerous individuals don’t fall through the cracks and get out early to re-offend.

Fundamentally, the care of our children starts where? At home with the family. If there are signs of abuse, that abuse needs to be reported.

What makes you the best candidate for Ninth Judicial District judge?

I’ve been practicing law for over 13 years. Nine of those years have been devoted to the successful operation of a private law firm. I think the knowledge and experience of running a business, making payroll and being a productive member of society is a plus.

Second, my experience as a lawyer is much broader than my opponent’s, not only because I have practiced criminal law since I became an attorney, but I have helped a great number of people with civil law, dealing with complicated divorces, guardianships, adoptions. These are issues that so often times come about because of a criminal component.

I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anyone that because of drug use, there are broken homes, neglect and abuse that must be addressed. From that perspective, I bring to the bench a more well-defined area of expertise in dealing with both criminal and civil sides of the law, because even though this is considered a criminal docket, that judge is going to see family and civil cases. This spot was vacated by Stephen Quinn, and I appeared in front of him many times.

Three, the diversity that my persona brings to the bench is important. I have worked hard both in and out of the legal communities of Curry and Roosevelt counties to represent people, and all I’ve had to stand on is my integrity. I am someone who can be trusted; I am someone who puts faith in family first and then the law, in that order.

— Compiled by Managing Editor Alisa Boswell