PBC Court Judge, Group 2 Candidate - Jean Marie Middleton

Middleton is running for an open seat on the Palm Beach County Court.  It's the only judicial race in this election.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm Ford w jn O dot com and my election spotlight
is on Palm Beach County's only judicialrace this time around, and it's for
the Pombach County Court Judge Group tworace. Three candidates in this race,
including Jean Marie Middleton, and thatis who we are speaking with now.

(00:20):
Thank you for joining me. Thankyou so much for having me. I
appreciate this opportunity. So let's getsome background on you, you know,
running for judge. We'll get peopleall the time. We'll reach out to
us and say, you know,I hear your election interviews all the time,
but you know, I don't knowwho to vote for for judge.
You know, it's a lot easierwhen you when you can listen to candidates

(00:41):
running for state legislative seats or youknow, county commission things like that school
board because they hear about issues.We don't do that obviously with the judicial
races. So let folks know whoyou are. I am Jean Marie Middleton.
I have been a resident of CollegeCounty for the last twenty four years.

(01:02):
I am a Assistant General Council forthe Palmache County School District, where
I have served since twenty and thirteen. I have thirty eight years of trial
experience have been employed in many capacitiesduring those thirty eight years. I have

(01:25):
served as a Chief of Litigation forthe Miami Dade School District, which is
the fourth largest district in the nation. I've served as in house council for
two fortune five hundred corporations, haveserved as assistant City attorney for three municipalities.
I have served as a supervising attorneyfor the Legal Aid Society of Palmage

(01:47):
County. And I have worked inprivate practice. All right, so let's
talk about what makes you most qualifiedfor this position. You know, we
were talking to all three of thecandidates in this race. Everybody thinks that
they've got the most experience or youknow, or whatever it is, that
their golden ticket is to be ableto be a great judge. What is

(02:13):
yours? I believe that I havethe unique experience of having the greatest breadth
and depth of legal practice. Ihave practiced and litigated in just about every
area of the law, including employment, labor, land use, landlord,
tenant, wage hour, liability,misdemeanor, criminal cases, as well as

(02:40):
bankruptcy and the list goes on.But most importantly, I have the experience
of having made history for several ofthe cases that I have tried that made
the law in this district in thefourth District Court of Appeal, as it
relates to the appropriate dury instructions andthe correct standard of proof in a case.

(03:07):
I think those are qualities that areintegral to the position of being a
judge. My written product for proposedorders in summary judgment documents have been accepted
at the state level and approved atthe uppillate level. I have the experience

(03:30):
of having tried over twenty appeals atthe state level as well as at the
federal level. Having that experience givesme the ability to know civil procedure and
rules of evidence, which again arequalities that are integral to the role of

(03:51):
a judge. Now, you onyour campaign site mentioned quote. In recent
years of Palm Beach County Judicial NominatingCommittee voted and presented your name to the
governor for judicial appointment to serve bothon the county and Circuit court bench.
Exactly for you know layman terms,What exactly does this mean? Well,

(04:15):
there are two ways that a personcan become a judge in the state of
Florida. You can be appointed bythe governor. If an elected judge retires
or resigns before the end of theirterm, or if there is an open
seat detwait retirement or resignation, thenyou are elected. So there have been

(04:39):
several retirements and resignations. So Ihave put in my application. My application
has been reviewed by that Judicial NominatingCommission, and I have been shortlisted as
someone who's qualified to go up tothe governor. So you're on that list.
Should you not win this election,perhaps no, you could be appointed.

(05:00):
Is that that is not accurate?I gave yeah, No, I
did not apply this time because Imade a decision to run for the vacancy.
I didn't know if that was somethingthat you have to do every so
often, or if it's just youknow, you're on a short list and
it's just there. I don't Yeah. Again, no, each time it's
a different lisk And you're also presidentelect of the Pombach County Bar Association.

(05:29):
What happens if you become judged?You have to give that up. At
that point, I would I wouldhave to resigned that petition. And what
is it? What does it mean? You know? What talk about the
importance or or what you know,what that might mean to a voter,
the fact that you are president.Not every We have a lot of lawyers
in Palm Beach County and not everyI've known at least one of them that

(05:50):
was the pomp Beach County Bar Associationpresident. But you know, you know
what, not all of them becomethe president of the Beach County Bar.
So you are a president elect,that would serve I guess if you I'm
guessing president elect means your that wouldcome probably after this election, So this

(06:10):
would be something that you would doright if if you didn't win. That
is colect correct. And the Presidentof the Palmage County Bar serves as the
head of the association that represents thelawyers in Palm Beach County. We are
social agent to the community in termsof putting on uh continuing legal education and

(06:35):
other we work with the judges.Were kind of liaison between the judges and
the legal community. Who is whoelects you know, who elects the president
of the of the bar. Themembers of the Palmy Chery Bar Association with
every every lawyer in the county.Essentially uh it votes on this. Well,

(06:59):
not every lawyer in the county isa member of the Puma County Bar.
It is a voluntary bar, butwe have approximately three thousand members.
I believe that's that was the lastnumber. Okay, so so all right,
so I just want to make surethat the voters understand, you know,
everything there and all right, well, I'm going to ask you one

(07:20):
final question, you know, andhe kind of covered a lot of this,
but in a nutshell, you know, three candidates, why should folks
vote for Jean Marie Middleton. Experiencematters. I believe that I have the
greatest press and depth of experience.I have been serving as a volunteer youth
court judge for the last twenty twoyears. I started that service in Miami

(07:43):
Dade County. I have been presidentelect of the f I mean president excuse
me of the f Malcolm Senior andhim bar, as well as a volunteer
for many organizations in the community thatprovided for bono work in the community.
I believe that my temperament, mydemeanor, and my ability to understand the

(08:07):
various cultures, the various persons whocome into the county court who are unrepresented,
who don't know the law or theprocedures and oftentimes who don't speak the
language, would benefit from someone whohas lived throughout the country as a Navy

(08:31):
child, and have traveled the worldand has interacted with all factors of people
at all stations and walks in life. I have volunteered for twenty two years
at a local food bank as registrationcoordinator, distributing food to the community every
second and for Saturday. In thatposition, I interact with the community and

(08:54):
those who often come before the CountyCourt, and I've seen those experiences make
me uniquely qualified to assume that positionas a County Court judge. All right,
this is a six year term.It's the one judicial race on your
ballot. It will be on everybody'sballot. It's nonpartisan, so regardless of

(09:16):
your party, or even if youhave no party affiliation, just be a
registered voter and you can vote forPalm Beach County Court Judge Group two candidate
Jean Marie Middleton. Thank you forjoining me. Thank you so much for
having me. I appreciate this opportunity. The election is ougous for you nice.
Thank you for helping me help fromeach county by being your next County

(09:37):
Court judge.