August 27, 2024 • 18 mins
Chief Judge Blair Edwards announced the establishment of Division L within the 21st Judicial District Court to manage the rising caseloads in Tangipahoa, Livingston, and St. Helena parishes, with a particular focus on juvenile cases.
In this episode, Lindon Bennett MaGee, a candidate for the Judge’s seat, discusses her motivations to run and the necessity of Division L. Lindon, a local attorney with a decade of experience, highlights the overwhelming case numbers due to increased population and pandemic-related judicial delays. She shares her early influences, including her mother and the character Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), which shaped her passion for justice and helping underserved communities. Lindy commits to addressing juvenile crime and emphasizes the need for judges to balance legal acumen with empathy.
As her campaign progresses, she encourages community engagement ahead of the November 5 election and expresses her dedication to fostering an equitable judicial system for all residents.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction of Division L
05:08 Personal Background and Education
07:21 Passion for Law 10:56 Judicial Experience and Insights
13:00 Campaign Trail and Community Engagement
16:45 Reflections on Running for Office
Lindon Magee for Judge on the Web: https://www.lindy4judge.com
Lindon Magee for Judge on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lbmlaw
This episode is sponsored by Level Dumpsters You can learn more about Level Dumpsters by visiting:
https://www.leveldumpsters.com
SAVE 100.00 OFF YOUR DUMPSTER RENTAL JUST BY MENTIONING LOCAL LEADERS THE PODCAST!
In this episode, Lindon Bennett MaGee, a candidate for the Judge’s seat, discusses her motivations to run and the necessity of Division L. Lindon, a local attorney with a decade of experience, highlights the overwhelming case numbers due to increased population and pandemic-related judicial delays. She shares her early influences, including her mother and the character Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), which shaped her passion for justice and helping underserved communities. Lindy commits to addressing juvenile crime and emphasizes the need for judges to balance legal acumen with empathy.
As her campaign progresses, she encourages community engagement ahead of the November 5 election and expresses her dedication to fostering an equitable judicial system for all residents.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction of Division L
05:08 Personal Background and Education
07:21 Passion for Law 10:56 Judicial Experience and Insights
13:00 Campaign Trail and Community Engagement
16:45 Reflections on Running for Office
Lindon Magee for Judge on the Web: https://www.lindy4judge.com
Lindon Magee for Judge on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lbmlaw
This episode is sponsored by Level Dumpsters You can learn more about Level Dumpsters by visiting:
https://www.leveldumpsters.com
SAVE 100.00 OFF YOUR DUMPSTER RENTAL JUST BY MENTIONING LOCAL LEADERS THE PODCAST!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
In late June of this year, Chief Judge of the
twenty first Judicial District Court, Blair Edwards, officially announce the
introduction of a new judicial division designated as Division L.
This announcement was prompted due to the rising case lave
faced by courts within Tanjibajoa, Livingston and Saint Helena parishes.
(00:20):
The newly formed Division L will primarily handle juvenile cases
across all three parishes and will oversee criminal documents specifically
in Livingston and Tanjabahoa parishes. We have one of the
candidates for judge in the newly formed Division L here
with us today to speak with us on why she
is running and what we can look forward to with
(00:40):
her in the judge's seat. So with that, I want
to welcome Lynda McGee to local leaders and you go bye, Lindy.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Correct, that's right, and thanks so much for having me today.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, I am excited to talk to you. This is
a very interesting subject. And let me just say this
on your name. I have a thing with unique names.
Lendon is a very unique name. Obviously, Lindy also unique.
I always tell people people call me Jim, but my
actual birth name is James and usually if somebody calls me, James,
(01:12):
I'm in trouble, it's usually my wife yelling at me
or my mom yelling at me, one of the two.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So exactly, So.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We're gonna call you Lindy today.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So I'm not in trouble yet.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
You're not in trouble, okay, So we're you know, interesting
stuff has been happening in the twenty first Judicial which
sparked division L and tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well, honestly, our case load has just grown tremendously. I mean,
of course, we all see the population growth that we've
been facing. Yeah, so with that, we have a rise
in cases, of course, and our judges are just overloaded.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
That's actually why for the past few years I've been
working as a staff attorney with our judges because of
the need to help that case overload. So I've been
assisting with that in that capacity for the past few years.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Wow, very good with this particular division, it's going to
be primarily focusing on juvenile courts.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Right, well, initially it is set up to handle twenty
percent of our juvenile cases in Livingston here and then
also in Tangba Hoae.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I see, very good and you are, you know, no
stranger to this area. You you grew up in Strawberry City,
that's right, Ponchatula and you graduated from Pontchatula High School. Yes,
And where'd you go from there?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well? After that, I went to Southeastern. I always joke
and say my only regret about Southeastern is that they
did not have a law school. Right, I'm glad it
made me venture out from there. I went on the LSU.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
All.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, graduated there.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Here's the interesting thing about you. You were young graduating
out of high school. I actually graduated a year early.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yes, that's wow.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Very good, book smart, very book smart. I can see.
Tell us the story about you and your sister. We
talked about this off camera.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
My sister we are very close. Also a little bit competitive,
just to take sure, but I wanted to catch up
with her, so especially we both knew we wanted to
go to law school. So she kind of held back
a year, you know, took some time at Southeastern, and
I worked to cash up with her. I loaded my studies,
took as many classes as I could to get as
(03:19):
many hours in so that I could catch up with her,
and then we were able to go to law school together.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Awesome. Awesome, man, you eventually graduate from law school. How
was that experience? What was that like?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I loved it it really, Like you said, LSU, the
campus itself is huge, the law center. We were a
very close knit group. It was a great experience. Of
course LSU football, just the relationships that you made there.
It was really more like high school as far as
just the connections made in.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
That last Yeah, and it's a you know, in your case,
it's a bunch of people that have an interest in
the law and like a little family in most if
you will. And that kind of leads me into my
next question, and that is what was it about the law?
Because what I just told all the listeners is, look,
you are obviously very smart. You probably could have had
(04:09):
your choice of what you wanted to do in life.
You chose the law. Why.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
My mom has always been my hero. Anything my mom
did or anything she liked, I always wanted to do
the same. When I was growing up. Her favorite movie
was always To Kill a Mockingbird. Great movie at a
young age. I was probably six or seven watching it
and fell in love with it. In Atticus Bench and
I saw the law as a way to help people
(04:35):
who may need it most. Not everyone has access to
the justice system or to legal aid. And I saw
that as a way that I could help people and
help our community.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Very good, great answer, and you know, little do it
some people know, I guess, but I had an interest
in the law when I was like fourteen fifteen. I'm like, yeah,
that's what I want to do. I want to be
a lawyer. But then I figured out you had to
get to school for a long time. I'm like, I
don't know if I want to go past my bachelor's
for that long. So so I ended up eventually being
(05:07):
a podcaster. It was a good second stop. But just
to obviously you did a wonderful job there, and your
mother mother too. Yes, very good.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You married, yes.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And something else about you that's interesting is that you've
got a little hobby of what what do you like
to do in your spare time?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Anything outdoors really, honting, fishing, riding horses. I try my
best to keep my boys outside as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Right, let's talk about your motivation a run for judge. Specifically,
a lot of attorneys are completely happy attorney in and
so that you know, running for judge to them is
something they just don't have an interest in doing. What
gives you an interest in it?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Well, whenever I was at Southeastern, I worked at the
DA's office as a victim's advocate and was in the
courtroom a good bit in that role. And from where
I sat, I saw that the judge was the one
who controlled and was able to help where he could.
And from that moment, I just I fell in love
(06:14):
with the role. Then through law school, I clerked for
our judges in the twenty first and got a more
in depth look at their role, and I just knew
that that was always what I would want to do.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Very good. And let's talk about your experience real quick,
something that you would obviously if someone's looking to elect
a judge, they I'm sure I would imagine we'll want
someone with a little bit of experience with the law.
Tell us what you did well, Like I.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Said, I was a victim's advocate and I was a
law clerk once I graduated, I litigated for about seven years.
I was a member of a larger firm in Hammond.
Then I also worked as a solo practitioner. I have
my owned business. Oh wow, that saw the challenges went
through COVID with that everything.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, that's a whole different experience in it.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Oh my goodness. Yes, crash course definitely, yeah, absolutely, business management.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah, very good. And how long have you been How
long have you been an attorney?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I guess ten years?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, yeah, a good long time. How do you view
that role of a judge? How would you answer that?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
I feel like they are able. First, I feel like
they take the law, and I think that the law
is a beautiful thing, and I think that it's crafted
to be interpreted and to allow your passion to kind
of work into it. And I feel like the judge
is sitting there and they're able to take their life
experiences and their work experiences and look at that together
(07:43):
with the law, and look at the cases before them,
and consider all of the evidence and make a just determination.
And I think that doing that it is a heavy
heavy weight that is on those judges. But I also
think that to do that correctly and fairly is so
(08:04):
important to our society. Absolutely to our I mean that's
to me, the cornerstone the foundation of our government. And
to be able to do that and do that correctly
is of the utmost importance.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Wow, I couldn't agree with that more and a great
answer to that question. Let me ask you, what do
you see as the problems that need to be fixed
in your area that you will be covering.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I honestly see where you. Of course, we have our
issues that we've always been faced with. What I'm noticing
now in seeing a trend in is issues that I
believe were contributed to by COVID. You see lots of
juvenile crime. You're seeing gangs of rising in our areas.
And to me, that is you had children on the
(08:53):
streets instead of in school. I think that that left
avoid there that was filled with things that just should
not be there. And these children, I feel like need
someone there to let them know, Hey, we're watching, we
know what you're doing. You need to fix this before
it becomes you know, of course it's a problem now,
(09:13):
but they need to know get this fixed. You can
still make a change. It's not too late, get back
on the right path.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah. I agree one hundred percent, and I do that
was a big covey, in my opinion, was a big
contributor to the juvenile crime because these kids were you know,
their parents worked, so maybe they were home alone or
maybe their parents were home because it was COVID and
some people didn't have a job to go to at
that point. But it certainly made you know, idle minds
(09:44):
can be a problem sometimes when you're when you're young, exactly,
sometimes when you're old, but really when you're young and
you have nothing but time, that can be a problem.
A major reason that this this new division is being
is because the caseloads how backed up? Right now are
they prior to this division?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
L Well, they have made strides to finally catch up
from our COVID backload. Of course, we weren't having jury
trials for quite a while, so just that alone backed
everything up. But our judges are phenomenal at working the
best that they can and managing their caseloads. I've done
it about three years ago, is whenever I went to
(10:30):
work for them as a staff attorney, and I've tried
my best, of course to prepare them and give them
as much information about their cases and the research, do
the research to help them be able to manage that
caseload and make those decisions on the bench as efficiently
as possible.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Sure, and it's an important issue because you know, everybody
has I guess the right to a speedy trial, right,
and so from that aspect, you need to be able
to offer that. But also you see a lot of
cases and they finally get adjudicated, and by the time
they're adjudicated, people are like, wait a minute, this happened
(11:10):
in twenty nineteen and it's twenty twenty four. You know,
those kind of things.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We recently settled a flood case from nineteen eighty three.
It was a class action suit.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
It actually I grew up hearing about the flood of
eighty three. My grandparents flooded. My dad tells the story
about them floating out of the house, very similar to yeah,
you know, yeah, yes. And at this point as it's settling,
my grandparents were some of the claimants and you're looking
at both of them are now deceased, and you've got
(11:44):
their children now getting the proceeds. It's just crazy how
long some things can lag on.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Yeah, it really is. And I have another podcast that
I do where we cover the crime headlines and just
what's going on in the world of crime. And that
is the most shocking thing to me, is how you
know the wills of justice tern but sometimes they turn
very slow and there's some cases where that's expected. Maybe
(12:12):
there's a lot of moving parts to that. Adding this
division should speed that up significantly, I would imagine.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And the thing that's very unique about this division and
to me exciting about it is it's built right now
to initially handle the case load that we discussed, but
also in a few years there'll be the opportunity to
convert to a general jurisdiction. Should that be the need
of the district.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
At that time, Oh, that's wonderful, So.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
You can kind of you can handle this case load,
but then down the road you'll have an opportunity to
look and see what we need where we're hurting. I
know it's on the horizon. Everyone is hoping that we'll
get another solely juvenile judge, So at that point it
could shake things up a bit and there may be
more of a need for assistance in the civil divisions
or in criminal and you can make those adjustments.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
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(13:44):
podcast Tell Me about the campaign trail? How's that been
for you so far? And when did you announce?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I announced on July nineteenth, my dad's birthday.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I told him that was his presence.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah. Hey, that's a good gift.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Too much going on?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Give me the best gift? All so you announce and
and uh, you're off on the campaign trail? Has it been?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
It has been wonderful. I have really loved getting out there.
I'm a big people person. I've loved meeting everyone, going
to some of the more unique events in our parish. Yes,
it has been very fun. My boys have also enjoyed
tagging along some.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah they learning, yes, yes, learning? And how do they
for in sick four and sex, So they're learning early.
That's a good thing. Is the schedule tough? Is it? Is?
It kind of hard to keep up with. You know,
you got to be here, you got to be there.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
And it is. I am extremely blessed. I have a
wonderful support system, my parents, my husband, They are one
behind me and assist in any way that they can.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And I'm I'm gonna tell you the support from your
family is invaluable, as you know, especially on campaign trails,
it's so much worse. I saw on your Facebook you
have some stops upcoming meeting greats if you will, Yes,
do you have any of those offhand that you want
to mention?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We'll be at the American Legion in the Ranger on
Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to having everyone coming out
to that and seeing the people telling them about our
campaign and yeah, everything's going answering their questions.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So you grew up in Poncha too, and you live
in Loranger now right?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Well, actually I live just outside of Loranger, o plusser.
But yes, and my husband he's from the Ranger. Yeah,
I pick on him. He keeps moving me further and
further north. I drew my line at Highway sixteen.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Let's shout out your website. I think that's important. Yes,
So what's your website?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
It is Lendyfjudge dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, Lendy for Judge, and you have a Facebook and
I want everybody. I want her to wake up tomorrow
and check that Facebook and have like a thousand more likes,
and that way she'll want to come on again and
talk about it. Maybe in the future when it's a
little closer. Let's talk about when it is. I guess
that's important. Same day as the presidential will lot. Yeh's
(16:13):
so you're going to get a turnout.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh yes. And I just want to remind everyone if
you are able to to early vote, because I can
remember those lines from the last presidential election and there
will be a wait, yea possible. We'll go ahead and
get out in the early vote.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah. And it's three parishes y'all. As I mentioned in
the beginning, it's Tangy, Livingston and Saint Helena. Yeah, so
go out there and vote, show your support. If you
want to learn more about miss Lindy, you can check
her out on Facebook and she also has a website
you can check out as well. I do want to
mention this before we get out of here. This is
your first kind of run at politics, I guess, or
(16:52):
asking for votes for an office first time? Yeah, what
do you think about that? Everything it's cracked up to be.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I that has been the biggest challenge to me. Yeah,
I don't. I feel like if you are going in
and saying, oh, I've done this, this and this, I
just feel like you're trying to I don't know, brag
in a way or something. Yes, being pushed out and saying, hey,
you got to remember, you know, tell people what you've done,
explain it that you know.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I am an adjustment yes for people that are humble
and so I get it one hundred percent, and that
just speaks to who you are. That's a that's a
good thing. If it's it's hard to get comfortable asking
people for a vote or saying I'm so great at
this great, I mean that's weird to most people, right
exactly except me. It's not weird to me. Is that weird? No,
(17:43):
it is. It's totally weird to me. I appreciate you
coming on, thank.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
You so much, and honestly, guys, sincerely, I have my
two little boys. My goal here is I want to
help the community how I can, and I see this
as doing my part to keep this a place that
I want my children to stay and grow and when
they get older, I don't want them to leave. I
(18:07):
want them to stay and I want to do my
part to ensure that that happened.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Amen to that. Couldn't say it any better. Thank everyone
for listening, and we'll link all of Miss Lindy McGee's
information in the description of this podcast. And until next time,
I'm Jim Chapman reminding you love your community, support local business,
and keep leading. Thank you very much.
In late June of this year, Chief Judge of the
twenty first Judicial District Court, Blair Edwards, officially announce the
introduction of a new judicial division designated as Division L.
This announcement was prompted due to the rising case lave
faced by courts within Tanjibajoa, Livingston and Saint Helena parishes.
(00:20):
The newly formed Division L will primarily handle juvenile cases
across all three parishes and will oversee criminal documents specifically
in Livingston and Tanjabahoa parishes. We have one of the
candidates for judge in the newly formed Division L here
with us today to speak with us on why she
is running and what we can look forward to with
(00:40):
her in the judge's seat. So with that, I want
to welcome Lynda McGee to local leaders and you go bye, Lindy.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Correct, that's right, and thanks so much for having me today.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Well, I am excited to talk to you. This is
a very interesting subject. And let me just say this
on your name. I have a thing with unique names.
Lendon is a very unique name. Obviously, Lindy also unique.
I always tell people people call me Jim, but my
actual birth name is James and usually if somebody calls me, James,
(01:12):
I'm in trouble, it's usually my wife yelling at me
or my mom yelling at me, one of the two.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
So exactly, So.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
We're gonna call you Lindy today.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So I'm not in trouble yet.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
You're not in trouble, okay, So we're you know, interesting
stuff has been happening in the twenty first Judicial which
sparked division L and tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Well, honestly, our case load has just grown tremendously. I mean,
of course, we all see the population growth that we've
been facing. Yeah, so with that, we have a rise
in cases, of course, and our judges are just overloaded.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
That's actually why for the past few years I've been
working as a staff attorney with our judges because of
the need to help that case overload. So I've been
assisting with that in that capacity for the past few years.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Wow, very good with this particular division, it's going to
be primarily focusing on juvenile courts.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Right, well, initially it is set up to handle twenty
percent of our juvenile cases in Livingston here and then
also in Tangba Hoae.
Speaker 1 (02:14):
I see, very good and you are, you know, no
stranger to this area. You you grew up in Strawberry City,
that's right, Ponchatula and you graduated from Pontchatula High School. Yes,
And where'd you go from there?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
Well? After that, I went to Southeastern. I always joke
and say my only regret about Southeastern is that they
did not have a law school. Right, I'm glad it
made me venture out from there. I went on the LSU.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
All.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Yeah, graduated there.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Here's the interesting thing about you. You were young graduating
out of high school. I actually graduated a year early.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yes, that's wow.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Very good, book smart, very book smart. I can see.
Tell us the story about you and your sister. We
talked about this off camera.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
My sister we are very close. Also a little bit competitive,
just to take sure, but I wanted to catch up
with her, so especially we both knew we wanted to
go to law school. So she kind of held back
a year, you know, took some time at Southeastern, and
I worked to cash up with her. I loaded my studies,
took as many classes as I could to get as
(03:19):
many hours in so that I could catch up with her,
and then we were able to go to law school together.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Awesome. Awesome, man, you eventually graduate from law school. How
was that experience? What was that like?
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I loved it it really, Like you said, LSU, the
campus itself is huge, the law center. We were a
very close knit group. It was a great experience. Of
course LSU football, just the relationships that you made there.
It was really more like high school as far as
just the connections made in.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
That last Yeah, and it's a you know, in your case,
it's a bunch of people that have an interest in
the law and like a little family in most if
you will. And that kind of leads me into my
next question, and that is what was it about the law?
Because what I just told all the listeners is, look,
you are obviously very smart. You probably could have had
(04:09):
your choice of what you wanted to do in life.
You chose the law. Why.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
My mom has always been my hero. Anything my mom
did or anything she liked, I always wanted to do
the same. When I was growing up. Her favorite movie
was always To Kill a Mockingbird. Great movie at a
young age. I was probably six or seven watching it
and fell in love with it. In Atticus Bench and
I saw the law as a way to help people
(04:35):
who may need it most. Not everyone has access to
the justice system or to legal aid. And I saw
that as a way that I could help people and
help our community.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Very good, great answer, and you know, little do it
some people know, I guess, but I had an interest
in the law when I was like fourteen fifteen. I'm like, yeah,
that's what I want to do. I want to be
a lawyer. But then I figured out you had to
get to school for a long time. I'm like, I
don't know if I want to go past my bachelor's
for that long. So so I ended up eventually being
(05:07):
a podcaster. It was a good second stop. But just
to obviously you did a wonderful job there, and your
mother mother too. Yes, very good.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
You married, yes.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
And something else about you that's interesting is that you've
got a little hobby of what what do you like
to do in your spare time?
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Anything outdoors really, honting, fishing, riding horses. I try my
best to keep my boys outside as much as possible.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
Right, let's talk about your motivation a run for judge. Specifically,
a lot of attorneys are completely happy attorney in and
so that you know, running for judge to them is
something they just don't have an interest in doing. What
gives you an interest in it?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Well, whenever I was at Southeastern, I worked at the
DA's office as a victim's advocate and was in the
courtroom a good bit in that role. And from where
I sat, I saw that the judge was the one
who controlled and was able to help where he could.
And from that moment, I just I fell in love
(06:14):
with the role. Then through law school, I clerked for
our judges in the twenty first and got a more
in depth look at their role, and I just knew
that that was always what I would want to do.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Very good. And let's talk about your experience real quick,
something that you would obviously if someone's looking to elect
a judge, they I'm sure I would imagine we'll want
someone with a little bit of experience with the law.
Tell us what you did well, Like I.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Said, I was a victim's advocate and I was a
law clerk once I graduated, I litigated for about seven years.
I was a member of a larger firm in Hammond.
Then I also worked as a solo practitioner. I have
my owned business. Oh wow, that saw the challenges went
through COVID with that everything.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, that's a whole different experience in it.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Oh my goodness. Yes, crash course definitely, yeah, absolutely, business management.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Yeah, very good. And how long have you been How
long have you been an attorney?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
I guess ten years?
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Okay, yeah, a good long time. How do you view
that role of a judge? How would you answer that?
Speaker 2 (07:22):
I feel like they are able. First, I feel like
they take the law, and I think that the law
is a beautiful thing, and I think that it's crafted
to be interpreted and to allow your passion to kind
of work into it. And I feel like the judge
is sitting there and they're able to take their life
experiences and their work experiences and look at that together
(07:43):
with the law, and look at the cases before them,
and consider all of the evidence and make a just determination.
And I think that doing that it is a heavy
heavy weight that is on those judges. But I also
think that to do that correctly and fairly is so
(08:04):
important to our society. Absolutely to our I mean that's
to me, the cornerstone the foundation of our government. And
to be able to do that and do that correctly
is of the utmost importance.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Wow, I couldn't agree with that more and a great
answer to that question. Let me ask you, what do
you see as the problems that need to be fixed
in your area that you will be covering.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
I honestly see where you. Of course, we have our
issues that we've always been faced with. What I'm noticing
now in seeing a trend in is issues that I
believe were contributed to by COVID. You see lots of
juvenile crime. You're seeing gangs of rising in our areas.
And to me, that is you had children on the
(08:53):
streets instead of in school. I think that that left
avoid there that was filled with things that just should
not be there. And these children, I feel like need
someone there to let them know, Hey, we're watching, we
know what you're doing. You need to fix this before
it becomes you know, of course it's a problem now,
(09:13):
but they need to know get this fixed. You can
still make a change. It's not too late, get back
on the right path.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yeah. I agree one hundred percent, and I do that
was a big covey, in my opinion, was a big
contributor to the juvenile crime because these kids were you know,
their parents worked, so maybe they were home alone or
maybe their parents were home because it was COVID and
some people didn't have a job to go to at
that point. But it certainly made you know, idle minds
(09:44):
can be a problem sometimes when you're when you're young, exactly,
sometimes when you're old, but really when you're young and
you have nothing but time, that can be a problem.
A major reason that this this new division is being
is because the caseloads how backed up? Right now are
they prior to this division?
Speaker 2 (10:06):
L Well, they have made strides to finally catch up
from our COVID backload. Of course, we weren't having jury
trials for quite a while, so just that alone backed
everything up. But our judges are phenomenal at working the
best that they can and managing their caseloads. I've done
it about three years ago, is whenever I went to
(10:30):
work for them as a staff attorney, and I've tried
my best, of course to prepare them and give them
as much information about their cases and the research, do
the research to help them be able to manage that
caseload and make those decisions on the bench as efficiently
as possible.
Speaker 1 (10:47):
Sure, and it's an important issue because you know, everybody
has I guess the right to a speedy trial, right,
and so from that aspect, you need to be able
to offer that. But also you see a lot of
cases and they finally get adjudicated, and by the time
they're adjudicated, people are like, wait a minute, this happened
(11:10):
in twenty nineteen and it's twenty twenty four. You know,
those kind of things.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
We recently settled a flood case from nineteen eighty three.
It was a class action suit.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
It actually I grew up hearing about the flood of
eighty three. My grandparents flooded. My dad tells the story
about them floating out of the house, very similar to yeah,
you know, yeah, yes. And at this point as it's settling,
my grandparents were some of the claimants and you're looking
at both of them are now deceased, and you've got
(11:44):
their children now getting the proceeds. It's just crazy how
long some things can lag on.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Yeah, it really is. And I have another podcast that
I do where we cover the crime headlines and just
what's going on in the world of crime. And that
is the most shocking thing to me, is how you
know the wills of justice tern but sometimes they turn
very slow and there's some cases where that's expected. Maybe
(12:12):
there's a lot of moving parts to that. Adding this
division should speed that up significantly, I would imagine.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
And the thing that's very unique about this division and
to me exciting about it is it's built right now
to initially handle the case load that we discussed, but
also in a few years there'll be the opportunity to
convert to a general jurisdiction. Should that be the need
of the district.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
At that time, Oh, that's wonderful, So.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
You can kind of you can handle this case load,
but then down the road you'll have an opportunity to
look and see what we need where we're hurting. I
know it's on the horizon. Everyone is hoping that we'll
get another solely juvenile judge, So at that point it
could shake things up a bit and there may be
more of a need for assistance in the civil divisions
or in criminal and you can make those adjustments.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
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(13:44):
podcast Tell Me about the campaign trail? How's that been
for you so far? And when did you announce?
Speaker 2 (13:51):
I announced on July nineteenth, my dad's birthday.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yeah, very good.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
I told him that was his presence.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
Yeah. Hey, that's a good gift.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Too much going on?
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Give me the best gift? All so you announce and
and uh, you're off on the campaign trail? Has it been?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
It has been wonderful. I have really loved getting out there.
I'm a big people person. I've loved meeting everyone, going
to some of the more unique events in our parish. Yes,
it has been very fun. My boys have also enjoyed
tagging along some.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
Yeah they learning, yes, yes, learning? And how do they
for in sick four and sex, So they're learning early.
That's a good thing. Is the schedule tough? Is it? Is?
It kind of hard to keep up with. You know,
you got to be here, you got to be there.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
And it is. I am extremely blessed. I have a
wonderful support system, my parents, my husband, They are one
behind me and assist in any way that they can.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And I'm I'm gonna tell you the support from your
family is invaluable, as you know, especially on campaign trails,
it's so much worse. I saw on your Facebook you
have some stops upcoming meeting greats if you will, Yes,
do you have any of those offhand that you want
to mention?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
We'll be at the American Legion in the Ranger on
Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to having everyone coming out
to that and seeing the people telling them about our
campaign and yeah, everything's going answering their questions.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
So you grew up in Poncha too, and you live
in Loranger now right?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Well, actually I live just outside of Loranger, o plusser.
But yes, and my husband he's from the Ranger. Yeah,
I pick on him. He keeps moving me further and
further north. I drew my line at Highway sixteen.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Let's shout out your website. I think that's important. Yes,
So what's your website?
Speaker 2 (15:48):
It is Lendyfjudge dot com.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
Yeah, Lendy for Judge, and you have a Facebook and
I want everybody. I want her to wake up tomorrow
and check that Facebook and have like a thousand more likes,
and that way she'll want to come on again and
talk about it. Maybe in the future when it's a
little closer. Let's talk about when it is. I guess
that's important. Same day as the presidential will lot. Yeh's
(16:13):
so you're going to get a turnout.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Oh yes. And I just want to remind everyone if
you are able to to early vote, because I can
remember those lines from the last presidential election and there
will be a wait, yea possible. We'll go ahead and
get out in the early vote.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Yeah. And it's three parishes y'all. As I mentioned in
the beginning, it's Tangy, Livingston and Saint Helena. Yeah, so
go out there and vote, show your support. If you
want to learn more about miss Lindy, you can check
her out on Facebook and she also has a website
you can check out as well. I do want to
mention this before we get out of here. This is
your first kind of run at politics, I guess, or
(16:52):
asking for votes for an office first time? Yeah, what
do you think about that? Everything it's cracked up to be.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
I that has been the biggest challenge to me. Yeah,
I don't. I feel like if you are going in
and saying, oh, I've done this, this and this, I
just feel like you're trying to I don't know, brag
in a way or something. Yes, being pushed out and saying, hey,
you got to remember, you know, tell people what you've done,
explain it that you know.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
I am an adjustment yes for people that are humble
and so I get it one hundred percent, and that
just speaks to who you are. That's a that's a
good thing. If it's it's hard to get comfortable asking
people for a vote or saying I'm so great at
this great, I mean that's weird to most people, right
exactly except me. It's not weird to me. Is that weird? No,
(17:43):
it is. It's totally weird to me. I appreciate you
coming on, thank.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
You so much, and honestly, guys, sincerely, I have my
two little boys. My goal here is I want to
help the community how I can, and I see this
as doing my part to keep this a place that
I want my children to stay and grow and when
they get older, I don't want them to leave. I
(18:07):
want them to stay and I want to do my
part to ensure that that happened.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Amen to that. Couldn't say it any better. Thank everyone
for listening, and we'll link all of Miss Lindy McGee's
information in the description of this podcast. And until next time,
I'm Jim Chapman reminding you love your community, support local business,
and keep leading. Thank you very much.
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