Judge York
Bernalillo County District Court Judge Wendy York opened an ethical hole large enough to drive a lowrider through when she decided to take on the case deciding whether Ralph Nader should stay on the NM Prez ballot. Shortly after ruling Nader off the ballot Friday it was disclosed York had donated $1000 to Dem John Kerry's campaign, but did not disclose that when she agreed to hear the case.

Wendy meet John Brennan. Remember him? He was your chief judge until earlier this year when he was busted for drug possession and DWI. Maybe you forgot about that? Was nothing learned from that stunner? A check of the political giving of the 22 judges in the Bernalillo district reveals that York and Geraldine Rivera, who has given $2,000 to President Bush's campaign, are the only judges who have made Prez contributions. Was it to much trouble to assign the case to someone who did not have an obvious conflict-of-interest?

When Brennan was busted some fellow judges immediately rushed to his defense. Now we will probabaly hear that there is no law that stops Judge York from giving money to a Prez candidate and then deciding a critical decision for another Prez contender. But whatever happened to ethics? Oh, I forgot, that's not the "law."

This latest lapse in a judge's judgment comes on the heels of not only the Brennan incident, but Judge Robert Thompson's bizarre ruling on voter ID that said the election is too close to enforce the law. Couldn't he think of something more clever? Why bother? It seems impunity not impartiality is the buzzword these days for a big chunk of the NM judicial system.

Whoever you support for President deserves a level playing field. Maybe they should call in the architects of the new courthouse where the judges reside. The foundation may be cracked.

POLLS, POLLS, POLLS

The Santa Fe New Mexican and KOB-TV will hit with a poll late today that will be closely watched as it is the first NM Prez survey taken out of the limelight of the GOP national Convention. The Mason-Dixon survey was done September 15 and 16.

The ABQ Journal poll, taken around the convention, had Bush with a three point lead, 45-42, but Bush was still on the move in the days following. Keep in mind that Kerry visited NM Thursday night and may have received a bit of bounce if the surveys were taken in the evening, as is often the case. Even with the three point Journal lead, Kerry remains within the margin of error. We'll post the new numbers and analysis Tuesday.

LET ME LINK IT

Richard Romero's congressional campaign is looking to the web to raise a quick five grand. You can check it out at his web site And a reminder to NM candidates and politicos, email me your web site as the Romero campaign did and I will link it here so NM's political community can track your campaign. There's an e-mail link at the top right of the page.

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2004
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