This is an archive of a past election. See http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/scl/ for current information. |
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Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Judge - Superior Court; County of Santa Clara; Office 5 | |||||
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The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Sentencing,
Experience,
Eliminate Bias
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
Answer from Paul Colin:
Thank you for considering me. Answer from Christopher E. "Chris" Cobey:
1. The range of sentences permitted by the law.
Answer from Paul Colin:
Thank you for considering me. Answer from Christopher E. "Chris" Cobey:
My 33-year civil law career has been primarily in employment litigation, in Superior Courts around California (Santa Clara County, the rest of the Bay Area, Northern California, and Southern California) and also federal courts. I've primarily handled trial court work, but have appellate experience in both state and federal courts.
Answer from Christopher E. "Chris" Cobey:
In my legal career in employment discrimination, I've become familiar with the dangers and detection of explicit bias. But the next frontier in ensuring that our judges and jurors as fair as possible is addressing the difficult area of implicit bias + those "attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, decision-making, and behavior, without our even realizing it."
As a judge, I will do my very best to be aware of any implicit biases on my part, and to attempt to dismantle those implicit biases. I will do the same for jurors in my courtroom. Therefore, if permitted, I would propose to give a jury instruction along the following lines:
"Do not decide the case based on 'implicit biases.' As we
discussed in jury selection, everyone, including me, has
feelings, assumptions, perceptions, fears, and stereotypes,
that is, 'implicit biases,' that we may not be aware of.
These hidden thoughts can impact what we see and hear,
how we remember what we see and hear, and how we make
important decisions. Because you are making very important
decisions in this case, I strongly encourage you to
evaluate the evidence carefully and to resist jumping to
conclusions based on personal likes or dislikes, generalizations, gut feelings, prejudices, sympathies, stereotypes, or biases. The law demands that you return a just verdict, based solely on the evidence, your individual evaluation of that evidence, your reason and common sense, and these instructions. Our system of justice is counting on you to render a fair decision based on the evidence, not on biases."
(For an excellent illustration of implicit biases, see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7i60GuNRg) Answer from Paul Colin:
Thank you for considering me.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page. |