League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA June 6, 2006 Election
	George S. Cole Answers Questions Candidate for Judge - Superior Court; County of Santa Clara; Office 8

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. As a judge, you may be called upon to impose sentences for crimes ranging from misdemeanors to homicide. While there are sentencing parameters and guidelines, you will have latitude. What factors and principles/values will affect your decisions?

What will produce the most improvement -- for this person, for those affected by this decision, and for our community as a whole? How can we educate and change failed socialization, or correct a mistake, with the least unwanted and secondary costs from the process? The specific nature of the individuals affected by my decision would be the most significant factor; matching the human reality for each particular case to the broad strokes of the general law requires the exercise of comprehension and individual assessment.

2. Please describe your experience in civil and criminal cases.

I have represented both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases, where I always sought to find the most reasonable result with the least cost to the parties and the system, and focused on diligent study of the law and dogged inquiry into and mastery of the specific facts for that case.

My experience with criminal cases is limited to my service since 2000 as a Traffic Judge Pro-Tem, where I sought to meet the goal stated in the law of dealing with each person fairly, expeditiously, and in good spirit, valuing the educational opportunity and seeking to make the entire community -- including particulary each defendant -- safer and better as a consequence of my decision.

3. Would you propose any changes to assure there is no appearance of bias in the courtroom including, but not limited to, bias based on disability, gender identity, age, race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation?

I support the outreach program which brings the court (judge, clerk, reporter, and files) to communities and locales in Santa Clara County. Our courthouses are useful, and reasonably efficient -- but they are not the sole means whereby access to the law for all can be provided. As a judge, I hope to assist the effort to reach out to all our citizens; and would hope to explore and perhaps expand the potential offered by telepresence options.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League. 

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: April 7, 2006 08:03
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