Full Legal Name: NANCY ELIZABETH GORDON
Name as it Appears on the Ballot: NANCY E. GORDON
Office Sought/District: DISTRICT COURT JUDGE (GORDON SEAT), 14TH JUDICIALDISTRICT
Party: REGISTERED DEMOCRAT
Date of Birth: NOVEMBER 6, 1954
Campaign Web Site: WWW.JUDGENANCYGORDON.COM
Occupation & Employer: JUDGE, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
Years lived in Durham: 32
Home Phone: 919-493-5070
Email: nancy@judgenancygordon.com
1. What do you believe are the most important issues facing the District Court? What areyour top priorities or issues of concern for the coming term?
We are prosecuting and incarcerating the mentally ill and the drug addicted at an alarmingrate because our community doesn't know what to do with them. Incarceration does notresult in a healthier post-incarceration individual and it's not a smart use of taxpayer money.The State of North Carolina should fully fund therapeutic courts including Adult and FamilyDrug Treatment Courts. These are intensively supervised criminal courts, which, instead ofincarcerating people, change behaviors through accountability, sanctions and incentives.We need to fund a Veterans Treatment Court (VTC) to accomplish the same kind of result forpeople who have sacrificed and served our country. At present, I am leading the effort to geta Veterans Treatment Court in Durham and on March 31 will be visiting with a MentorVeterans Treatment Court in Rochester, NY (paid for courtesy of the National Association ofDrug Court Professionals). It's my hope to have a VTC by Veterans Day 2014.
An increased effort for Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for local law enforcement,particularly those who staff our courthouse and updates in domestic violence would go along way toward keeping the public safer in the courthouse. CIT training is aimed atteaching law enforcement to defuse escalating situations with mentally ill people.
Our judicial system lacks resources, including a serious lack of IT integration, resources andplanning. Although the court system is a co-equal branch of government, the court system's budget is controlled by the General Assembly. The NCGA not only determines the total sumof money allocated to the court system, our legislators determine how the AdministrativeOffice of Courts allocates those resources within the court system. Few of the people in theNCGA are trial lawyers and that results in a lack of basic understanding by those decision-makersof how our courts function and are constitutionally required to function. Ourefficiency is seriously hindered by the lack of hardware, software and human resources. In2013, the judicial system was allocated a smaller percentage of the state budget than before.Our legislators seem to think that judges only work when they are on the bench—ignoringthe time we spend writing opinions, reading law, attending meetings and the like. Keepingour NCGA mindful of and informed about the needs of our court system and the importanceof the judicial system to our citizenry is a top priority.
2. What qualifies you to serve?
I have a passion for my job and I work hard. I decide the cases that come beforeme independently, impartially and promptly. Each day I work to be a better judge than the daybefore. I am mindful of the need for professionalism from the bench, and for meaningful and fairaccess to our justice system. I stay current on the law, participate in community activities andam active in several judicial and bar association groups.
My qualifications consist of 26 years in the private practice of law and 8 years on the DurhamDistrict Court bench. My credentials are unparalleled in my race. I am the only District Courtjudge in Durham and the only candidate with a Board Certification (my specialization is inFamily Law).
3. How do you define yourself politically? How does that impact your judicial approach?
I work very hard to leave my personal political, spiritual and philosophical beliefs at thecourthouse door. It is undeniable that my compassion for people and children, my ethic of hardwork, belief in fairness and justice spring, at least in part, from my social justice and religiousvalues.My personal political views are personal and not part of my judging in a courtroom. It is fair tosay that my personal views are inclusive, not exclusive. Again, I think that family is fundamentalto everything- our work ethic, our sense of justice, an individual's self esteem and well being,and one's success and failure.
4. FOR INCUMBENTS: What have been your most important decisions in your currentcapacity?
The most important decisions I've made are in child custody cases. Because of prohibitionsabout discussing ongoing cases, I am limited in cases I can talk about with specificity. The twocases I describe here are exceptions because at least one of the parties is deceased so the case isclosed and won't be reopened.
I was the first judge to preside over the child custody dispute between Derek Walker and themother of his son, Ethan. Derek was the young man who was shot and killed on the CCB Plazain Durham this past year. When the litigation started, Ethan was an infant. Derek was selfrepresented;he came into court in a suit or in his work uniform; he was unfailingly polite andrespectful to the Court and to Ethan's mother. It was fairly clear from early in the case that themother didn't want Derek in Ethan's life and that Derek was equally determined to be a father(in the best meanings of that word) to Ethan. We started with visits that were in blocks of 2-3hours several days a week. That shortly progressed to overnight visitation and finally to sharedlegal custody and equally shared parenting time. Derek was a devoted Dad. I was struck by therepeated efforts made by Ethan's mother and maternal grandfather to put obstacles in the pathof Derek's parenting of Ethan.
When I began practicing family law in 1982, fathers didn't often seek child custody. Over thepast 30 years, the family and the roles of parents has changed. Now fathers want to parent and,in some cases, make the choice to be a stay at home parent. Mothers and fathers – even differentpeople in parenting roles--bring different things to their children- one example is that often afather will toss a baby in the air making him scream with delight; most mothers wouldn't dreamof doing that and instead shelter their babies from risks. There's a role for all of those things ina child's life and development. And they are equally important. I was beyond sad to learn aboutDerek's situation the day he died, particularly since he said that he was motivated by the effortsof Ethan's mother to keep him from his son. I wasn't in domestic relations court at that time.The echoes of his distress, the recollection of Derek's devotion to Ethan and Derek's ability tobalance making a life for himself and his son will always be with me. I keep his thank you note,with a picture of him and Ethan, in my office. Derek made it so easy to respect him as a personand young man—it brought out the best in my judicial temperament.
Another case that challenged me was Snyder v. Giordano, also a child custody case. Mr. Snydersued his wife for custody of their children. It was a complicated and lengthy trial with twoexcellent trial lawyers. My decision is commemorated in a 27-page opinion. I was surprisedwhen the decision in this case went viral. I learned that Ms. Giordano had undertaken a publicrelations effort to lionize her case when I saw an article in a UK publication. Giordano'sviewpoint of the case was covered world wide in publications from the Durham Herald to TimeMagazine to MS Magazine. Giordano was interviewed on the Today Show, Dr. Drew andAnderson Cooper. Her take was that my decision was based on the fact that she had breastcancer. She rallied support with a Facebook page and online petitions that exist to this day. Iremember the day my mother called to say that her “bridge ladies” were talking about the case.
Because of the Judicial Canons I couldn't comment on the case even though I felt strongly thatmy ruling and the facts of the case were being misrepresented. I received many, many very uglyemails, was the subject of petitions and blogs calling for my removal and still had to maintainthe dignity of the court when I entertained motions concerning the appeal. I was lucky when theJudicial Response Committee, through former Chief Justice Burley Mitchell, communicated withthe Anderson Cooper show defending my decision and characterizing my opinion as one of thebest he'd ever read. I found dealing with the public scrutiny, which I thought was unfair,challenging. It was very, very difficult not to comment or get angry in public about the casebecause the litigation was ongoing and because the children deserve privacy.
Since the decision in June 2011, Ms. Giordano has, unfortunately, died. Nevertheless, the onlinepresence and other publicity dominates my history if you Google me. I am gratified to hear thatthe children are doing well with their dad in Chicago. I am also gratified that Snyder's lawyer(Laurel Solomon) and Giordano's lawyer (Bill Cotter) are both supporting my reelection efforts.
I can think of many more family law cases that I think demonstrate both my ability and mytemperament in court. For the entire time that I've served in District Court, I've been in one orthe other Family Court courtroom. Most of our judges find these cases too complex, or toomessy or too difficult or too “something” to handle and they avoid serving in these courts. Forthe first 18 months on the bench, I found being in domestic relations court both gratifying andpainful: Gratifying because I had the opportunity to use my experience and knowledge of the lawand families in a way that, I believe, benefitted families and children; painful because it washard for me to find my footing in a courtroom where I had been an advocate and, with many ofthe attorneys who appeared before me, an adversary. I used that time to work on patience (notalways my strong point), letting go the advocacy role I had played for 26 years and beingrespectful of the parties in the courtroom. As a result of my efforts in Durham's family courts,families and children have the opportunity to have cases heard by a judge who wants to be inthat courtroom, their cases are decided efficiently and promptly, they are heard by a judge whois willing to stay current on the complex law in the area and a judge who works hard every dayto make sure that all of the sides of those highly contested cases is heard.
5. FOR CHALLENGERS: What decisions has the incumbent made that you most disagreewith?
6. What do you feel was the U.S. Supreme Court's most important recent decision? Didyou agree with the majority?
The most important case in the 2013 Term pipeline is McCutcheon v. FEC where the issues arewhether limits on biennial campaign contributions to non-candidate committees areunconstitutional. With the floodgates already open in Citizens United, the McCutcheon case isimportant to provide some measure of protection against the elitist privatization of politics.McCutcheon has not yet been decided.
Going back to the 2012 Term, the most important case is U.S. v. Windsor . In a 5-4 decision, theCourt's majority declared DOMA unconstitutional. This case is legally and culturally significantand I heartily agree with the reasoning of the majority opinion authored by Justice Kennedy.
6. Have you ever pled guilty or no contest to any criminal charge other than a minortraffic offense? Please explain.
No.
7. Identify and explain one principled stand you would be willing to take if elected thatyou suspect might cost you some popularity points with voters.
The importance of an independent judiciary is one that is not always popular; it is, however,constitutionally mandated and critical to our democracy. I know that in polls, the publicindicates they want the right to vote for judges, but the drop off in the number of voters betweenlegislative or executive offices and judges is very high. Some suggest that judges who are unwilling to take public positions on political or social issues are “activist judges” secretlywaiting to impose their personal judgments and biases on those persons who come into theircourtrooms. In 2012 millions of dollars from partisan PACs and political parties flowed into theelection of NC appellate judges. It's wrong to bring politics into the courtroom. If America'sjudiciary is to remain healthy, vigorously autonomous, and able to perform its constitutionalfunctions without improper influences, it must be immune to attacks and financing designed toinfluence judicial decision-making.
I suggest that judicial candidates should avoid making the types of statements that are commonin campaigns for legislative or executive offices. Making commitments to voters about thepolicies one will pursue in office is a common feature of elections to executive or legislativeoffice. Judges do not represent any constituency—if we did, we couldn't be impartial or neutral.I would strongly support bringing back public financing for our appellate branch and exploringexpansion of that to our trial benches. An appearance of something not quite right occurs whenjudges solicit lawyers for campaign contributions and endorsements. Our decisions are subjectto review and criticism and we must be prepared to take the criticism, particularly constructivecriticism, with humility. But we can't sell out or fail to make the hard or unpopular decisionssimply to avoid criticism.
8. What improvements can be made in terms of the juvenile justice system? What are theweaknesses or constraints in the court's handling of juvenile offenders?
Youth of color are overrepresented at nearly every point of contact with the juvenile justicesystem. Disproportionate minority contact, which is clearly obvious in our court here inDurham, is alarming because it has been persistent over time. Statistics indicate that minorityyouth are more likely to be incarcerated than white youth. In North Carolina, we compound thisdisproportionate minority representation problem by charging 16-18 year olds as adults.
I'd like to see more cultural bias training for everyone in the juvenile justice (actually the wholecourt) system. It's important to ensure that our bench is as impartial and resistant to bias as itcan be. I'd like to see community efforts to strengthen family as sound and strong families areessential to keeping kids out of the school to prison pipeline. And diverting first offenders withnon-violent crimes when they are juveniles and through age 18 is another important factor inkeeping youth in school and working.
9. What do think the priorities should be for Durham law enforcement?
Our police force and our sheriff's department operate independently from each other. Morecamaraderie and less competition would be a good thing for all of our law enforcement.
I don't know the truth or falsity of the allegations of racial profiling by our policemen. Theallegations are seriously troubling. Even more concerning is being in first appearance court inthe jail and seeing the young black men, one after another, sitting there- some charged withserious crimes and others with minor offenses like possession of small quantities of marijuana.There are innovative programs that have worked in jurisdictions similar to Durham, such as the programs described by David Kennedy in Don't Shoot: One Man, a Street Fellowship.
As I said above, even more of our officers should be certified in Crisis Intervention Training(CIT). CIT training is aimed at teaching law enforcement to defuse escalating situations withmentally ill people.
10. What additional resources would you like to see implemented for defendants? Is there aneed for more diversion courts or sentencing services?
Please see answer to Question 11.
11. Many people complain that the criminal justice system is clogged with defendantssuffering from mental illnesses. How would you like to see this problem addressed?
I support alternatives to incarceration; I preside over the Durham Adult Drug Treatment Court. We are incarcerating the mentally ill and the drug addicted because we don’t know what to do with them. Incarceration does not result in a healthier post-incarceration individual and it’s not a smart use of taxpayer money. The State of North Carolina should fully fund therapeutic courts including Adult and Family Drug Treatment Courts. These are intensively supervised criminal courts that, instead of incarcerating people, change behaviors through accountability, sanctions and incentives. We need to fund a Veterans Treatment Court to accomplish the same kind of result for people who have sacrificed and served our country. In Durham we have a Community Life court to try to connect the homeless who are charged with soliciting alms and similar misdemeanors to services that could change their behaviors and their lives. If one is mentally ill when he/she is incarcerated, that illness will still persist when he/she is released; it’s critical that we treat the mentally ill and addicted, not incarcerate them.
12. Durham Public School suspensions are on the rise, and many people worry about theso-called “school to prison pipeline.” Can anything be done to remedy the problem on thejudicial side of things?
Our schools need to do a better job with detentions and suspensions- that's the beginning of thepipeline. Truancy courts can be useful and they should be expanded into K-3. Concentrating onour elementary school children would be a step toward keeping the families of truant childrenengaged so that the commitment to matriculating through high school is maintained.
In Durham, we are starting an innovative pilot program for diverting 16 and 17 year olds withminor and nonviolent offenses so that they might avoid a criminal charge and a criminalconviction. There is a known connection between criminal charges and convictions andproblems with such things as education, employment and housing. We need to encourage theGeneral Assembly to step up and raise the age of minority. Family drug treatment courts, whichthe legislature unfunded in 2011, were a successful effort to support and foster strong families byhelping parents deal with their addictions, mental health challenges, educational and jobchallenges; strong families are fundamental to keeping kids out of the pipeline. Finally, it goeswithout saying, we need to educate our children, make sure their needs including food andshelter are met and provide community services for those children who need them.
13. Persistent domestic violence calls-for-service have befuddled law enforcement, women'sadvocates and criminal justice officials across the state. What role can you play to help thesituation?
Many individuals seek redress under our domestic violence (DV)statutes ( aka Chapter 50B),and under Chapter 50C, because they can't afford the filing fees charged in domestic relationscourt or because they think they will get a quick-turnaround of their case. Some seek redress inthese courts because there are short notice times for trial dates after the defending party isserved with papers. Still others want custody and believe that it's easier to obtain custody orsole possession of a residence in our domestic violence courts. I take it that your question israising the concern of many who feel that our DV laws are being abused and that leads to a highvolume of unwarranted calls to law enforcement and large court dockets.
Battering and domestic violence is a serious issue. I worked with the now-defunct Coalition forBattered Women as an advocate many years ago. When I'm in DV court, it appears to me thatsometimes, to save money, parties come to DV court without lawyers, they have fairly summaryhearings, or they don't appear, or they dismiss the charges. Some of this is driven by a desire toget an advantage, do it quickly and do so for less cost. Some is driven by the dynamics ofunmarried people's relationships that sour, and, absent claims about children, those partieshave no access to our divorce courts or our matrimonial laws. On the other hand, dismissal ofDV charges is completely consistent with situations where one party is a victim of domesticviolence and she or he is intimidated into dismissing a case or simply loses the nerve to followthrough; there's evidence that it may take some victims several attempts before they followthrough with court process.
There is also a group of people who have contacted law enforcement for help because of aproblematic interaction and they tell the court that it was law enforcement that told them to takeout a complaint under 50B or 50C. The latter are a particularly troubling phenomenon as thesecases are often family, neighbor or workplace disputes that come into the system because lawenforcement can't diffuse the animosity so they pass the case onto the court system.
My impression is that we have a lot of families under stress. When that stress results in analtercation, verbal or physical, people call the police or come to the courthouse looking for help.They want a resolution of their dispute and they think the place they can get help is the courtsystem. Domestic violence is a very frightening syndrome and discerning which cases are trulyDV is complicated by many factors. I used to keep two 50B complaints on the bulletin board inmy office: in one, where the allegations were very matter-of-fact, the victim was killed and in theother, although the allegations were scary, she wasn't. I had those complaints there to remindme that the inquiry in DV cases must be handled cautiously. There is another side to DV whichis when the case lacks merit and the partner who is wrongfully accused, taken out of his or herhome, often required to put up bail, only to have the situation resolve when the other partnerdecides not to pursue the claim. Charges of DV leave people with a charge of a violent crimethat can eliminate options for that person: access to military service, lease opportunities, schoolscholarships, etc.
In Durham we have a “no drop” policy where the district attorney's office doesn't dismiss casessimply because the victim says he or she doesn't want to prosecute. That's a double-edgedsword. We need trained and discerning advocates, law enforcement and judges.
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