Dallas County Democrats
Fowler Reprimand

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On February 19, 2002 the Channel 8 (WFAA-TV) 10:00 PM News did another story about a local Republican Judge who needs to be replaced this year. For this story they also interviewed his Democratic opponent, LISA MCKNIGHT.

Craig Fowler is the sitting Judge of the 255th District, a court which deals with family law. He is perhaps most nortorious now for being caught on television playing cards on his computer while sitting at his bench in court. More troubling is the public reprimand he received last year from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct on the grounds of improperly naming a friend to a lucrative appointment.

A public reprimand is one step below being removed from office. The earlier Channel 8 story said "Only 14 judges in the entire state have received such disciplinary action in the past two years. Commission members found the conduct of Family Court Judge Craig Fowler of the 255th District Court to be so "biased" and "egregious" that his name has been added to the list."

Sadly, this is just one example of the arrogance of power of the Republican Judges who now have a monopoly on the local bench. You'll be hearing about many more this year as the campaigns go on. The good news is that we are running two dozen good candidates for Judge this fall to break up that monopoly.

In the race for this District 255 court, we have one of our most active candidates in Lisa McKnight. She is an experienced attorney who has sat as a visiting Associate Judge in the Family Courts here. Her abilities recently won her the ONLY endorsement as "qualified" in this race by the Committee for a Qualified Judiciary. For more information on her and her background, see her website at www.lisamcknight.com.

--Bill Howell, DCDP Chair, February 19, 2002

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