Florence Needs John Odem

We recently expressed our opinion concerning what kind of municipal judge John Odem will make for the City of Florence. We're aware of at least two others who have also applied for the job. One is our friend Janice Keeton. You may read a short bio of Janice at this Pen-N-Sword site: Link

While we're not familiar with the third candidate, we're sure he has many good qualities. We welcome biographies from any candidates for this position.

However, after looking at the requirements for this position and the attributes of these three as posted on their homepages and other sites, we feel Mr. Odem is the far better choice among them. John has experience at the Municipal, District, and Circuit Court levels, as well as experience as a special prosecutor and in a vast number of defense cases.

It is our understanding that the city council will make a decision between now and the end of the year. There is only one council meeting remaining during this term (December 18, 2012 @ 5 pm) The decision must be made soon due to James Hall’s early appointment to the Probate Judge’s bench. 

If you live in Florence and likewise support John in his quest for Florence Municipal Judge, please contact these councilmen and express your support. 

 

District 1 - Dave Smith              dmsmith@florenceal.org     (256) 760-6401

 

District 2 - William Jordan         djordan@mjcarterins.com   (256) 760-6402

 

District 3 - Hermon Graham      hermon1@comcast.net      (256) 760-6403

 

District 4 - Barry Morris             bkmorris@una.edu             (256) 760-6404

 

District 5 - Blake Edwards         bedwards@florenceal.org  (256) 760-6405

 

District 6 - Andrew Betterton     andy@abetterton.com        (256) 760-6406

Many thanks to all who take the time to become involved in our city government.

*****

From e-mail and comments we receive, it's obvious many don't fully understand the charge of Capital Murder and how it came into existence. Neither do many understand the great delays that often occur in trying such cases. Tomorrow we'll take a look at the genesis of the current law and how it's applied and sometimes misapplied.

Shoalanda