October 14, 2024 • 34 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.
#louisiana #divisionL #Lindonmagee #livingstonparish #tangi #judge #twentyfirstjudicial
Lindon Magee for Judge on the Web: https://www.lindy4judge.com
Lindon Magee for Judge on Facebook:
/ 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!
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.
#louisiana #divisionL #Lindonmagee #livingstonparish #tangi #judge #twentyfirstjudicial
Lindon Magee for Judge on the Web: https://www.lindy4judge.com
Lindon Magee for Judge on Facebook:
/ 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):
Hi, this is Lori Johnson with Hancock Whitney Bank and
you're listening to Local Leaders the podcast. Visit Local leadersthepodcast
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Hey everyone, and welcome back to local leaders of the podcast.
And I got a familiar face probably by now sitting
across from me. Miss Lendon McGhee is candidate for district
(01:41):
judge in Division else. First of all, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
We're glad to have you back. This is your second appearance.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Yes it is, and thanks again so much for having
me back.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I love it. And uh, look, you must have loved
it so much you couldn't stand it. You had to
come back from more exactly. Maybe make you a co
host one day. You've been on the campaign trail since
last time we talked. I look on your Facebook, I
follow your page and you are everywhere. Oh how's that
been going?
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I literally feel like I am running for you.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
You are in in all senses of a word, that's true,
and meeting a lot of people, all that sort of stuff.
How's that been?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
It has been wonderful.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I have just really enjoyed being able to talk to
everyone along the campaign trail and speak with them and
get their feedback about the issues that they're facing in
our communities.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Very good and just a little refresher quickly for those
that may not have seen the last podcast, although we
have thousands of people that saw that, which is always
a good thing getting your message out. Let's get a
little bit give everybody a little bit of your background
again and what inspired you to pursue a career in law.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Well, my name is Lindy McGee. I am running for
District Court show on the November ballot. I'm a lifelong
resident of our district. I live here with my husband
and our two little boys. I have been in the
legal field for the past fifteen years. I've worked as
a victim's advocate for the District Attorney's office. I've worked
(03:17):
in juvenile court with our Public Defender's Office. I've worked
in private practice. Most recently, i've been a staff attorney
for our judges chambers. And you know, people ask when
I decided I wanted to be a lawyer.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It was really very early.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
On that I decided that, and it's just because I
see it as a way to help the community. You know,
you think of Atticus Bench and how he's a you know,
was able to help out his neighbors who might not
have been helped and get paid in apples.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
And I just really.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Love that so we can I have been before been
a mess.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
The most interesting form of pay.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
That's awesome. There's a lot of of experiences you go
through when you're a judge, and there's experiences you go
through prior to that as an attorney. What specific experiences
would you say make you feel prepared for that role
as a judge.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
Honestly, I feel like I guess you'd say my resume
it covers pretty much anything that you can think of that.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Would be before a judge.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, but I really feel like it's my personal experiences
that make me more qualified even than my resume would.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, you've served on both the prosecutor side of things
and the defense attorney side of things, right, I think
that's very important when seeking a judge judgeship. Would you agree?
Speaker 4 (04:43):
I do, And I think it just allows you to
see the bigger picture. I know, when you're in court
sometimes you may be advocating for your client and you
truly believe your case and you think that your client
should win, and you're going through this argument. You're hoping
that the judge is it your way as well. But
in two weeks, you may be representing someone and you're
(05:05):
using your opponent from that prior case. You're using their
argument and trying to amp it up, and it just
lets you see that there truly are two sides to
every case.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, there really are. And you know, the beautiful thing
to me about the law is it applies to everyone.
And so whether you're a prosecutor and you know you're
prosecuting someone that may have done bad things, or you're
a defense attorney and you're protecting that particular person's right
(05:36):
to the law and to make sure that all their
rights are given and covered. Both of those things are
very important, and you can relate as a judge to
both sides of that. You know what it's like to
be on a prosecutor side of that and a defense
attorney side. I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
And then too, just as a staff attorney, you're looking
at you're able to look at the these cases objectively
as well, And what I've seen in that role is
you can look at the case and weigh each person
on each side, whether that's the state's interest in ensuring
that justice has served or whether you're looking at a
defendant and trying to figure out why they're really there
(06:18):
and what is going to actually rehabilitate them in a
way that's best for our community, right, and you're able
to explore options to try to figure that out and
figure out what's appropriate in different cases your.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Particular division division l focuses. Is there like a percentage
that it you know, maybe forty percent family law or
how does that work?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Well, at least initially, it will take over twenty percent
of all of the juvenile cases in Livingstone, Saint Helena.
TANGI well with the caveat in Saint Helena, but it
will take twenty percent of our juvenile case load, our
misdemeanors and our traffic cases.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Gotcha, And so twenty percent of that will be juvenile cases.
Which is you have a family, you have how many children,
two children married, and you kind of know you can
relate to that, right exactly. Yeah, that's important.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yes, And I've seen, you know, the struggles that we
all face as parents. I know there's so many times
before I had kids where I would go, oh, mon
would never.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
They have already look before I was a parent, I
can't tell how many times I said, you know, especially
when you're much younger and you say I would. I'm
not gonna tell my kid what my parents told me.
I'm not. I sound just like my parents now I'm
talking to my kids, I mean just like them. And uh,
there's only one way to go through that, and that's
to go through that, right, And that's the only way
(07:47):
you can relate to that. You think, you know until
you have children, and then you realize.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Right real quick, even just realizing that each child is different.
I know my oldest and my youngest, they are are
completely different personalities. They have their own strengths, their own weaknesses,
even at their ages. They react differently to stress, they
react differently to praise, and I feel like that's so important.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
I also know the different stresses that it places on
you as a parent. I know, you know, before my
Christmas shopping list, you know, was much different and now
and it's already I mean it's the beginning of October
and I'm already thinking and trying to play in Okay,
what's my Christmas budget? How are we making this work?
(08:33):
What do the kids want?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
What do they need?
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Yeah, And that's just added stress along with the grocery Bill,
as you're sorting all of this out, I think that
all of that weighs heavier on you whenever you've got
little kids at home.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, it really does. I mean you have a responsibility there.
And I remember distinctly when I had my children that
I grew up like that. I mean, at the second
my wife and I knew she was pregnant, you know,
it was like I matured. Yeah, all of a sudden,
you know, it wasn't all about me anymore. And those
(09:09):
things are those things are important. Now. I do want
to talk a little bit more about your background, and
first of all, you have a wonderful father who when
you came on last time, I posted some short clips
and one of them was specifically talking about your dad,
and he actually commented on it. He's like, that's right,
(09:31):
and so I really love that. But you come from
a very hard working family, real people, right, regular people,
plant workers and hard workers, people that we can all
relate to.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Right right right now.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
My dad he is on a turnaround right now, working
in shall met so he is home, but yeah, he's
on a night shift right now, and he's been asking still, hey,
what can I do for you? If there's anything I
can do before I go to sleep. When I get
home in the morning, let me know, need to go
out everything else and I'm going you go sleep.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
We're good.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, you gotta work. Yeah, and luck we obviously, you know,
I'm sure you would say you can't do it without them.
They those soldiers that you have that are putting up
signs and all those sorts of things. That's important, yes,
for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Even especially him being on the night shift right now
has been beneficial because my mom will come stay the
night with me.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah, and she can just stay.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Like this morning, when I left my kid, you know,
my youngest, he's still in the bed sleeping. I can leave,
She's just there. It makes it so much easier. I
have a great support system with you know, all of
our family love that.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I have kind of a question you would commonly ask
if someone running for judge, I would say, and that is,
how do you plan to engage with the community if
you're elected? You know, communities big around here.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I think just being a part of the community and
going out and still continuing, you know, to talk with
people and realizing what they're going through. And you know,
I think it's important to know the struggles of the
people who are in front of you in court are.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Facing Yeah, and it's just very important.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Being in school with my kids, I know, that's so huge.
You see what's going on, you hear different things, and
just being in the school and in the community is
so important as well.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
You discussed the judge ship and the parishes that it covers,
and that is Tangy, Livingston and Sant Helena. Correct, right,
And there's kind of a caveat with Saint Helena. Explain
that real quick.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
So this seat will be on the ballot in Saint Helena,
but this judge will not go to Saint Helena, at
least initially, probably for the first at least three years.
It is set up to not go to Saint Helena. Okay,
but again, still on the.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Ballot they you can still vote yes.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
And as you know, everything I guess is subject to change. Sure,
So the biggest issue is if we're able to get
another juvenile judge, then that would be subject to change.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah. Well, and this whole division is a good example
of that. I mean that this division didn't exist before now, right,
And that kind of leads me into my next question.
And that is one thing that you will hear from
the community, right in any community you get to throughout
the country. Is that the wheels justice just seemed to
(12:32):
turn slightly. They do turned, but it's a very very
slow process. Number one, would you agree with that? And
number two, how do we rectify that?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I do agree with that, and I think that a
lot of it, it's very frustrating. It would be just
agency struggles. I know, say, from COVID, we had a
backlog as far as getting fingerprints tested, DNA testing, everything
like that. You know, it creates a backlog and that
slows things down. So when you're in court trying to
(13:05):
get a case to trial and they're going, well, we
still don't have the DNA back we got to wait,
and it's very frustrating. But I think just working with
different branches and trying to figure out how we can
more efficiently handle these things and increase the speed that
these cases are getting to us would be very helpful.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And adding this division does help with that, and I
guess that's a product of efforts being made to increase
the speed there, and that's always a good thing. Yes,
what is your approach to ensuring fairness and impartiality in
a court room? How do you make sure that everything
stays fair and impartial.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
To me, it's just about keeping an open mind and
knowing that these are people in front of you and
it could be your kid, it could be your cousin,
it could be your sister, and that's who you're dealing with,
and you want to treat that person accordingly. You want
them to be treated how you would hope that your
family was treated in court, And that's if you know,
(14:08):
if my family member committed a terrible crime, I would
still hope that when they go to court they are treated.
You know, I would expect the sentence to be swift,
and I would expect it to be just. But I
would also hope that people still realize that I'm a
mom sitting in the pew watching my child. Yes, and
(14:31):
I think that you have to keep that consideration.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
What do you think the biggest challenge is for judges
these days in this community.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I think the caseload certainly is a challenge, you know,
just being bogged down, having so many cases on your
dockets and trying to sort them out. I think that
that's a huge challenge. And our judges, you know, they
have done a great job trying to move cases through.
Just our court calendar itself is limiting. You know, we're
(15:01):
a three parish district and you only have so many
trial weeks. You know, you can't just set things. I
know some people think, oh, just put it on the calendar,
but to do that, you have to make sure is
their courtroom available, is their court reporter, is your minute
cork there. There's a lot that goes into it that
has to be planned.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
That's true, and not in your normal The everyday parson
that doesn't spend all day in court wouldn't know that.
They don't see that that backside of everything that makes
those wheels turned right.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Now, social media I feel like has given a new
challenge I think in some way. In some ways, I
think it's good and make sure you're held accountable for
what you do. But it's also very hard to get
the full story out, especially from the judiciary. You know,
you're not able to comment on things, so you're not
(15:54):
even able to walk out of the courthouse and say, well, look,
this is what's going on, this is why all of
this is Happenings are kind of tied and you just
have to sit back and hope that people do their
homework and find out the full story.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah. Oh, that's a great point. Great point, And that
is something that social media. You know, there's some positives
to it, and there's some negatives to it, and there's
a big rush to judgment sometimes maybe in some cases
from the public, not necessarily from the legal side of it.
How would you handle cases that attract significant public attention?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I have learned to I've worked with thirteen sitting and
retired judges extensively, and I've been very privileged to have
been able to do that, and watching them, I have
learned I think that the best and most appropriate response
to those cases is to remove that from your thought process.
(16:55):
Try your best to separate yourself from that. And it's hard.
I mean, still you've you know, you're going home, your
husband's telling you, hey, talking about your case on social media?
You know, I saw this on Facebook?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
What's going on?
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I can remember a case that we were handling a
few years ago. My mom called me on my way
to work one what.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Did this, judge?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
You?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I just saw this. I went, well, that's not really
what happened.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
But you know, I think though, as a judge, you
have to block all of that out and just keep
that out of your reasoning. And that's hard whenever you're
in an elected position. But I think that as a judge,
that's the only thing you can do.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, and you're right, it's an election. It's a balance
because you are you're an elected official. But you you know,
you can't look at it that way. You've got to
look at everything from the perspective of the law and
consider all evidence one way or the other right.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And it's hard because say, if you're dealing with a
case and your prosecutor, district attorney is getting a bunch
of heat on social media, it can walk outside, have
a press conference, explain their actions, explain why they're doing
what they're doing. Yeah, the judge isn't able to do that. No,
(18:09):
there's no public comment on the ongoing controversy.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, that's a great point and I haven't thought about that,
but very good, very good point. How do you envision
the role of the judiciary evolving? We talked about social medium.
One thing that I noticed a lot of and primarily
because I'll watch a lot of it, is a lot
of things are on like court TV now and televised
(18:33):
hearings of these very high profile cases. And court cases,
So that to me would be one way that it's
already evolved. It used to be if you wanted to
go to a trial and sit in on that trial,
you were there and all you had was a pen,
the piece of paper. I mean, you're not allowed to
video do anything. Well, that's relaxed a lot, to the
(18:56):
point that some people get upset when a judge will say,
I don't want cameras in the court room, that kind
of thing, And I would imagine that the high profiality,
if that's a word of that case definitely plays a
part because the public there's some advantageous things to having
a camera in the courtroom. You know, the public gets
(19:19):
to see how the whole system operates, and I think
it's a beautiful system and I love it that people
have been exposed to that without having to actually go
and travel to that. Of course, the O. J. Simpson
case was the one that kind of blew the whole
lid off of televised cases. I mean, more people watch
that in the Super Bowl. I think that year. What
(19:41):
do you think about, you know, the next decade and
how the judicial processing in itself is going to go.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
I feel like we have to open ourselves up more
to the public. And I think it's great because it's
increased to public interest. I mean, OJ, I can remember watching.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
That, you know, sitting them.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
It came on, you know, you watched Young and the
Restless and OJ yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, everybody knew Judge lance Edo, right, you know, I
remember that name to this day. And he's way out
in California or wherever he was the Murderall trial recently,
so Creighton Waters, Wow, he was good.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
It's great because I think, you know, whenever after that
trial you have people showing up for jury duty who
are excited because they just watched the Murderall trial. Yes,
you also, though, have to explain to them, hey, we're
in a small report room in Louisiana without those resources.
And note this, you know we're not going to sequester you.
You won't be here for a month. You can go
(20:42):
home tonight.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And yes, and that, you.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Know, trying to get people to understand. You know, each
district's a little different, and once you go state to state,
that varies hugely. Sure, but I think that the public
interest that it brings definitely out weighs any negativity that
can be explained.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I agree. One hundred percent. And you know we talked
a little bit earlier. Not to backtrack, but you had mentioned, uh,
the fact that in in courtrooms and things like that
these days, the responsibility of the judge and uh, you
know that kind of starts at a young age when
(21:20):
you when you have these aspirations to be whatever it
is you want to be. And I always use this
as an analogy, Uh, when kids are trigger treating. I
used to see a bunch of police officer kids right
that come up in a copy uniform or whatever. I
don't see a whole lot of that anymore. And I think, uh,
I think one of the issues with police right now
(21:42):
is case load. You know, the same as same as
attorneys and judges, and you know you have all this
this just massive case load, and so everything slows down
and you can't work from a from a police officer's case.
You can't you can't spend the time you would like
to spend on every single case because you got four
(22:04):
hundred of them, you know. And same thing from the
perspective of the court system. You know, it turns slow
because there's four hundred of them, which is why this
division came into existence. Kind of lighting that up. With
all of this kind of evolving with TV in the courtroom,
that kind of thing, maybe we'll start seeing some judges
(22:26):
come up trick or tricking at nine years old, ten
years old in a black robe. You know.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
That you said that about the police officers and all two.
I think it is to what we're exposing our kids to. Yes,
and I know I think papatrol.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Has really helped.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Yes, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
They're not watching, They're not. Our society has reached a
point I feel like where you don't or many people
don't praise our police officers like they should put in.
They are just overworked, I believe, and like you said,
lack of resources. I know it's funny that my little
boy I have to beg him to take off his
(23:03):
police uniform everywhere we go. You would wear it all
day that I had to get him to so that
he had one whenever I watched the other. He is
now telling people he goes around vote for my mommy.
If you don't, I'm gonna arrest you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
I'm trying to explain to him, baby, you can't do that. No,
come on, But he though.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
That started because my mom, with watching him, she got
tired of the cartoons that are on TV. And she try,
she's a big one, you know, let's watch Scooby Doo.
You know, there's so mutching cartoons now. And she just says,
you know, I know what for watching Scooby Doo or
Bugs Bunny, They're not trying to send a message to
the four year old. So she started, you know, going
(23:46):
old school. Then also she started watching cop shows with him,
and that developed and now you know, I have a
little we call him Sheriff.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Shep love that. Love that. Yeah, very good. Now let
me ask you. You've been an attorney for quite a while,
and uh, what would you say is a memorable moment
for you in your role as an attorney?
Speaker 4 (24:13):
I would say my adoption cases.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Yeah, those.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
In that adoptions are always our happy days in court
because there are you know, just very tragic days.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
There is your blay days.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
You know, but adoptions always end on a high note
and you're looking at a family being made when so
often in court families are being torn apart.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Oh that's it's a really good true quote. That's right in.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
That in the adoption process, I've represented, you know, I
often will represent parents seeking to adopt or children being adopted,
I'll be a pointed to represent them, and then also
presented parents who are fighting the adoption. Sure, and that
you know it's always difficult, but you're really at that
point looking or the judge is looking at the best
(25:09):
interest of the child and making sure that that's served
in their decision.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, and it's and it's serious business. I mean, judge
ships are serious because you are the the deciding factor
really in someone's life at a major level, right, Yeah,
And so you really want someone That's why I'm continuing
to hammer down someone that can relate to a lot
(25:36):
of different aspects of life exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
And people so often say, hey, you know, I haven't
ever seen a judge before. I'm never going to see
a judge. And I'm going you don't know that.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
You could be right. You could be the victim of
a crime. Yes, you could.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Have a family member that develops a drug problem. All
of these things happen. You could be in a car wreck.
These things happen to just about everyone I know, and
that puts you in that courtroom and you don't expect it,
but it's one of those things. Don't say it can't
happen to you, because it can happen to anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
That's right. That's right. And let me ask you, what's
the most enjoyable thing about working in the legal field
for you?
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I love the people aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Also, though I'm a very big researcher, a book worm,
I love legal research. I love, you know, figuring out
reading opinions, figuring out the different reasons that judges are
ruling certain ways, the different reasons different laws are made,
how they should be followed, how your case law supports
different aspects of those laws, and how some case law says.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, but in this instance, you can differ.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
In your career thus far. When you were I want
to take you back to when you first you know,
you got out of law school, you're doing your first cases.
Did you envision your path leading to this at that
point in time in your life?
Speaker 4 (27:09):
That was always my hope. Yeah, it really was.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Love that, Yes, so it was. It's been a goal
kind of from the beginning for you.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Yes, it has.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Yeah, And that's why I've worked to make sure that
I understand all areas of the law so that I
can best serve as a judge and from different perspectives
as well, as you said, on both sides of cases.
And I think that that's just hugely important in this role.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
What message do you want to convey to voters who
are considering you as a candidate? What what? What is
something that you know? I don't want to say a
campaign promise because that doesn't sound right. But what is
it that you really want people to know?
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I really want them to know I will do my
very best to assist our community and whatever way I
can as a judge. And I think that you truly
are able to, especially in juvenile court, you know you're
dealing with people, and in misdemeanor court, you're dealing with
people who might be I guess, for lack of a
(28:14):
better term, they're almost they're at the gateway and you
can consider yourself as a gatekeeper and look and try
to figure out if you're able to figure out and
I guess, crack the case and figure out the best
penalty for the people in front of you, and you know,
in criminal court that would rehabilitate them, then you have
(28:37):
saved a life. And some of these people, in some
of these crimes, they need to be punished chargely. I'm
not at all second guessing that and I will not
waiver in those situations. But what really interests me are
the others who've come before you. And it might be
that they just didn't have a support system and they
(28:58):
fell into the wrong crowd. You know, it might be
a crime that's quote unquote you know, victimless. You know,
it might be that they got quite in possession. Yeah,
and you can figure out, Okay, is this someone who
I can get to a support group and who a
support group would benefit and if so, you know, can
we try this before we try something else.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah. I think that's hugely important. And look from one
aspect of the legal system all the way to the
all the way to where you know, these people are
sentenced to prison in some cases, it's no secret that
our prisons are related with presenters, right, I mean, they're
(29:41):
overflowing and and uh, in some cases justified and they
need to be there. But in some cases, you know,
taking pressure off of that by looking outside the box
a little bit, right, you know, just step outside the
box and see what other options are available is not
a bad thing. And that's something that's what I would
(30:02):
look for in any anyone that I would be voting
for for Judge for sure. So how can people support
your campaign? Okay, so everybody's heard this and they're all
vote for Lindy. How do they support you?
Speaker 4 (30:17):
You can reach out on Facebook also, I have a
website that you can go to. Yeah, you can any
questions that you have, any request. Of course, you know
you are more than welcome to I've been checking my
Facebook messages. I get a ton of them, so I
may be a day or two behind and responding, but
I am doing that.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yep, very good. And a couple of fun questions for
you favorite TV judge if you had to pick a TV.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Judge, Judge Judy.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Judge Judy is awesome. Look, that's the first thing that
came to my mind when I was when I was
reading it. Judge Judy is awesome and the best, the
best out of you know, they had a bunch of
them come after that. It's Judge was where it was at.
I loved she's no nonsense.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
My grandmother whenever she was older, you know, I was
very close with her and her and my grandfather. They
kind of moved from you know, the price is right,
check Wheel of Fortune and we're really watched Court TV
more so, and I would laugh because you know, they're
getting on there and they're fighting, and I'd go over
there and visit and I'd be getting, you know, the
worst headache, and then it clicks with me. I think
(31:27):
they were doing that because it just reminded them of
our family. They're all in there arguing with each other,
having all their issues has shot. So I think that
that was kind of their way of, like, you know,
tapping back whenever they were more involved with people, and
you know, it's people age less and less come and visit.
So I think that it just made them probably feel
a little more comfortable.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Oh one hundred one hundred percent. And I got a
little fun information for all of you out there on
the law that I'll share with. I actually looked up
obscure laws in Louisiana and I found this interesting. Biting
someone with your natural teeth is simple assault, but if
you bite someone with false teeth, it's considered aggravated as well.
(32:11):
I don't know why, but I'm going to research it,
I promise you. I guess maybe if you have false teeth,
it's considered like a weapon of some sort. Maybe, because
I don't.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
Know, I could envision someone doing something to their cheeth
somehow or cross teeth to cause more harm.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, maybe if they took him out and hit them
on the head. I don't know, but those in the books.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
It could be that one of our legislators got bitten
by someone.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
That could be Yeah, very good. Well, I appreciate you
coming on. I appreciate your hard work on your campaign.
Anybody out there that has followed you on Facebook can
see you are everywhere, and I sure appreciate that. And
quickly early voting is a eighteenth through the twenty ninth
of October, correct, yes, and so you are number thirty five.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
November fifth, of course the big day. But if you
can get out there and early vote, do it because
it's going to be along line the day of right. Yes,
definitely a couple of other elections going on that day
as well.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Yeah, nothing too.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Nothing to major. Lenny's on there. It's all you need.
And I might see a president on there somewhere presidential things,
but you know, just make sure you vote thirty five
right exactly. There you go. Thank you again for coming on.
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, and good luck to you. You coming up on
the end. It's so much to hear.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Twenty seven days that I'm counting.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Nope, nope, not that you're counting, all right, And to
all of you, thank you very much for listening, subscribing,
sharing the podcast. And we're going to link miss Lendy
McGee's information for her Facebook, et cetera in the description
of this video, so just click on that and it'll
take you right there where you need to go. We'll
(34:04):
link her website as well. So until next time, I'm
Jim Chapman reminding you love your community, support a local business,
and keep leading. Thank you very much,
Hi, this is Lori Johnson with Hancock Whitney Bank and
you're listening to Local Leaders the podcast. Visit Local leadersthepodcast
dot com for previous episodes or for information on peering
on the show.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
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to shout out our sponsor, Level Dumpsters. Now, Look, it's
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Level dumpsters is a verified partner of local leaders the podcast.
Hey everyone, and welcome back to local leaders of the podcast.
And I got a familiar face probably by now sitting
across from me. Miss Lendon McGhee is candidate for district
(01:41):
judge in Division else. First of all, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
We're glad to have you back. This is your second appearance.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Yes it is, and thanks again so much for having
me back.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I love it. And uh, look, you must have loved
it so much you couldn't stand it. You had to
come back from more exactly. Maybe make you a co
host one day. You've been on the campaign trail since
last time we talked. I look on your Facebook, I
follow your page and you are everywhere. Oh how's that
been going?
Speaker 4 (02:11):
I literally feel like I am running for you.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
You are in in all senses of a word, that's true,
and meeting a lot of people, all that sort of stuff.
How's that been?
Speaker 3 (02:24):
It has been wonderful.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
I have just really enjoyed being able to talk to
everyone along the campaign trail and speak with them and
get their feedback about the issues that they're facing in
our communities.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Very good and just a little refresher quickly for those
that may not have seen the last podcast, although we
have thousands of people that saw that, which is always
a good thing getting your message out. Let's get a
little bit give everybody a little bit of your background
again and what inspired you to pursue a career in law.
Speaker 4 (02:56):
Well, my name is Lindy McGee. I am running for
District Court show on the November ballot. I'm a lifelong
resident of our district. I live here with my husband
and our two little boys. I have been in the
legal field for the past fifteen years. I've worked as
a victim's advocate for the District Attorney's office. I've worked
(03:17):
in juvenile court with our Public Defender's Office. I've worked
in private practice. Most recently, i've been a staff attorney
for our judges chambers. And you know, people ask when
I decided I wanted to be a lawyer.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
It was really very early.
Speaker 4 (03:33):
On that I decided that, and it's just because I
see it as a way to help the community. You know,
you think of Atticus Bench and how he's a you know,
was able to help out his neighbors who might not
have been helped and get paid in apples.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
And I just really.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Love that so we can I have been before been
a mess.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
The most interesting form of pay.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
That's awesome. There's a lot of of experiences you go
through when you're a judge, and there's experiences you go
through prior to that as an attorney. What specific experiences
would you say make you feel prepared for that role
as a judge.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
Honestly, I feel like I guess you'd say my resume
it covers pretty much anything that you can think of that.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Would be before a judge.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Yeah, but I really feel like it's my personal experiences
that make me more qualified even than my resume would.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, you've served on both the prosecutor side of things
and the defense attorney side of things, right, I think
that's very important when seeking a judge judgeship. Would you agree?
Speaker 4 (04:43):
I do, And I think it just allows you to
see the bigger picture. I know, when you're in court
sometimes you may be advocating for your client and you
truly believe your case and you think that your client
should win, and you're going through this argument. You're hoping
that the judge is it your way as well. But
in two weeks, you may be representing someone and you're
(05:05):
using your opponent from that prior case. You're using their
argument and trying to amp it up, and it just
lets you see that there truly are two sides to
every case.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Yeah, there really are. And you know, the beautiful thing
to me about the law is it applies to everyone.
And so whether you're a prosecutor and you know you're
prosecuting someone that may have done bad things, or you're
a defense attorney and you're protecting that particular person's right
(05:36):
to the law and to make sure that all their
rights are given and covered. Both of those things are
very important, and you can relate as a judge to
both sides of that. You know what it's like to
be on a prosecutor side of that and a defense
attorney side. I think that's important.
Speaker 4 (05:55):
And then too, just as a staff attorney, you're looking
at you're able to look at the these cases objectively
as well, And what I've seen in that role is
you can look at the case and weigh each person
on each side, whether that's the state's interest in ensuring
that justice has served or whether you're looking at a
defendant and trying to figure out why they're really there
(06:18):
and what is going to actually rehabilitate them in a
way that's best for our community, right, and you're able
to explore options to try to figure that out and
figure out what's appropriate in different cases your.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Particular division division l focuses. Is there like a percentage
that it you know, maybe forty percent family law or
how does that work?
Speaker 4 (06:41):
Well, at least initially, it will take over twenty percent
of all of the juvenile cases in Livingstone, Saint Helena.
TANGI well with the caveat in Saint Helena, but it
will take twenty percent of our juvenile case load, our
misdemeanors and our traffic cases.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Gotcha, And so twenty percent of that will be juvenile cases.
Which is you have a family, you have how many children,
two children married, and you kind of know you can
relate to that, right exactly. Yeah, that's important.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yes, And I've seen, you know, the struggles that we
all face as parents. I know there's so many times
before I had kids where I would go, oh, mon
would never.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
They have already look before I was a parent, I
can't tell how many times I said, you know, especially
when you're much younger and you say I would. I'm
not gonna tell my kid what my parents told me.
I'm not. I sound just like my parents now I'm
talking to my kids, I mean just like them. And uh,
there's only one way to go through that, and that's
to go through that, right, And that's the only way
(07:47):
you can relate to that. You think, you know until
you have children, and then you realize.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Right real quick, even just realizing that each child is different.
I know my oldest and my youngest, they are are
completely different personalities. They have their own strengths, their own weaknesses,
even at their ages. They react differently to stress, they
react differently to praise, and I feel like that's so important.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, it really is.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
I also know the different stresses that it places on
you as a parent. I know, you know, before my
Christmas shopping list, you know, was much different and now
and it's already I mean it's the beginning of October
and I'm already thinking and trying to play in Okay,
what's my Christmas budget? How are we making this work?
(08:33):
What do the kids want?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
What do they need?
Speaker 4 (08:36):
Yeah, And that's just added stress along with the grocery Bill,
as you're sorting all of this out, I think that
all of that weighs heavier on you whenever you've got
little kids at home.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Yeah, it really does. I mean you have a responsibility there.
And I remember distinctly when I had my children that
I grew up like that. I mean, at the second
my wife and I knew she was pregnant, you know,
it was like I matured. Yeah, all of a sudden,
you know, it wasn't all about me anymore. And those
(09:09):
things are those things are important. Now. I do want
to talk a little bit more about your background, and
first of all, you have a wonderful father who when
you came on last time, I posted some short clips
and one of them was specifically talking about your dad,
and he actually commented on it. He's like, that's right,
(09:31):
and so I really love that. But you come from
a very hard working family, real people, right, regular people,
plant workers and hard workers, people that we can all
relate to.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Right right right now.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
My dad he is on a turnaround right now, working
in shall met so he is home, but yeah, he's
on a night shift right now, and he's been asking still, hey,
what can I do for you? If there's anything I
can do before I go to sleep. When I get
home in the morning, let me know, need to go
out everything else and I'm going you go sleep.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
We're good.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah, you gotta work. Yeah, and luck we obviously, you know,
I'm sure you would say you can't do it without them.
They those soldiers that you have that are putting up
signs and all those sorts of things. That's important, yes,
for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Even especially him being on the night shift right now
has been beneficial because my mom will come stay the
night with me.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
Yeah, and she can just stay.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Like this morning, when I left my kid, you know,
my youngest, he's still in the bed sleeping. I can leave,
She's just there. It makes it so much easier. I
have a great support system with you know, all of
our family love that.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I have kind of a question you would commonly ask
if someone running for judge, I would say, and that is,
how do you plan to engage with the community if
you're elected? You know, communities big around here.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I think just being a part of the community and
going out and still continuing, you know, to talk with
people and realizing what they're going through. And you know,
I think it's important to know the struggles of the
people who are in front of you in court are.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Facing Yeah, and it's just very important.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Being in school with my kids, I know, that's so huge.
You see what's going on, you hear different things, and
just being in the school and in the community is
so important as well.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
You discussed the judge ship and the parishes that it covers,
and that is Tangy, Livingston and Sant Helena. Correct, right,
And there's kind of a caveat with Saint Helena. Explain
that real quick.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
So this seat will be on the ballot in Saint Helena,
but this judge will not go to Saint Helena, at
least initially, probably for the first at least three years.
It is set up to not go to Saint Helena. Okay,
but again, still on the.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Ballot they you can still vote yes.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
And as you know, everything I guess is subject to change. Sure,
So the biggest issue is if we're able to get
another juvenile judge, then that would be subject to change.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Yeah. Well, and this whole division is a good example
of that. I mean that this division didn't exist before now, right,
And that kind of leads me into my next question.
And that is one thing that you will hear from
the community, right in any community you get to throughout
the country. Is that the wheels justice just seemed to
(12:32):
turn slightly. They do turned, but it's a very very
slow process. Number one, would you agree with that? And
number two, how do we rectify that?
Speaker 4 (12:43):
I do agree with that, and I think that a
lot of it, it's very frustrating. It would be just
agency struggles. I know, say, from COVID, we had a
backlog as far as getting fingerprints tested, DNA testing, everything
like that. You know, it creates a backlog and that
slows things down. So when you're in court trying to
(13:05):
get a case to trial and they're going, well, we
still don't have the DNA back we got to wait,
and it's very frustrating. But I think just working with
different branches and trying to figure out how we can
more efficiently handle these things and increase the speed that
these cases are getting to us would be very helpful.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
And adding this division does help with that, and I
guess that's a product of efforts being made to increase
the speed there, and that's always a good thing. Yes,
what is your approach to ensuring fairness and impartiality in
a court room? How do you make sure that everything
stays fair and impartial.
Speaker 4 (13:44):
To me, it's just about keeping an open mind and
knowing that these are people in front of you and
it could be your kid, it could be your cousin,
it could be your sister, and that's who you're dealing with,
and you want to treat that person accordingly. You want
them to be treated how you would hope that your
family was treated in court, And that's if you know,
(14:08):
if my family member committed a terrible crime, I would
still hope that when they go to court they are treated.
You know, I would expect the sentence to be swift,
and I would expect it to be just. But I
would also hope that people still realize that I'm a
mom sitting in the pew watching my child. Yes, and
(14:31):
I think that you have to keep that consideration.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
What do you think the biggest challenge is for judges
these days in this community.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I think the caseload certainly is a challenge, you know,
just being bogged down, having so many cases on your
dockets and trying to sort them out. I think that
that's a huge challenge. And our judges, you know, they
have done a great job trying to move cases through.
Just our court calendar itself is limiting. You know, we're
(15:01):
a three parish district and you only have so many
trial weeks. You know, you can't just set things. I
know some people think, oh, just put it on the calendar,
but to do that, you have to make sure is
their courtroom available, is their court reporter, is your minute
cork there. There's a lot that goes into it that
has to be planned.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
That's true, and not in your normal The everyday parson
that doesn't spend all day in court wouldn't know that.
They don't see that that backside of everything that makes
those wheels turned right.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Now, social media I feel like has given a new
challenge I think in some way. In some ways, I
think it's good and make sure you're held accountable for
what you do. But it's also very hard to get
the full story out, especially from the judiciary. You know,
you're not able to comment on things, so you're not
(15:54):
even able to walk out of the courthouse and say, well, look,
this is what's going on, this is why all of
this is Happenings are kind of tied and you just
have to sit back and hope that people do their
homework and find out the full story.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah. Oh, that's a great point. Great point, And that
is something that social media. You know, there's some positives
to it, and there's some negatives to it, and there's
a big rush to judgment sometimes maybe in some cases
from the public, not necessarily from the legal side of it.
How would you handle cases that attract significant public attention?
Speaker 4 (16:34):
I have learned to I've worked with thirteen sitting and
retired judges extensively, and I've been very privileged to have
been able to do that, and watching them, I have
learned I think that the best and most appropriate response
to those cases is to remove that from your thought process.
(16:55):
Try your best to separate yourself from that. And it's hard.
I mean, still you've you know, you're going home, your
husband's telling you, hey, talking about your case on social media?
You know, I saw this on Facebook?
Speaker 3 (17:05):
What's going on?
Speaker 4 (17:06):
I can remember a case that we were handling a
few years ago. My mom called me on my way
to work one what.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
Did this, judge?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
You?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
I just saw this. I went, well, that's not really
what happened.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
But you know, I think though, as a judge, you
have to block all of that out and just keep
that out of your reasoning. And that's hard whenever you're
in an elected position. But I think that as a judge,
that's the only thing you can do.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Yeah, and you're right, it's an election. It's a balance
because you are you're an elected official. But you you know,
you can't look at it that way. You've got to
look at everything from the perspective of the law and
consider all evidence one way or the other right.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
And it's hard because say, if you're dealing with a
case and your prosecutor, district attorney is getting a bunch
of heat on social media, it can walk outside, have
a press conference, explain their actions, explain why they're doing
what they're doing. Yeah, the judge isn't able to do that. No,
(18:09):
there's no public comment on the ongoing controversy.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah, that's a great point and I haven't thought about that,
but very good, very good point. How do you envision
the role of the judiciary evolving? We talked about social medium.
One thing that I noticed a lot of and primarily
because I'll watch a lot of it, is a lot
of things are on like court TV now and televised
(18:33):
hearings of these very high profile cases. And court cases,
So that to me would be one way that it's
already evolved. It used to be if you wanted to
go to a trial and sit in on that trial,
you were there and all you had was a pen,
the piece of paper. I mean, you're not allowed to
video do anything. Well, that's relaxed a lot, to the
(18:56):
point that some people get upset when a judge will say,
I don't want cameras in the court room, that kind
of thing, And I would imagine that the high profiality,
if that's a word of that case definitely plays a
part because the public there's some advantageous things to having
a camera in the courtroom. You know, the public gets
(19:19):
to see how the whole system operates, and I think
it's a beautiful system and I love it that people
have been exposed to that without having to actually go
and travel to that. Of course, the O. J. Simpson
case was the one that kind of blew the whole
lid off of televised cases. I mean, more people watch
that in the Super Bowl. I think that year. What
(19:41):
do you think about, you know, the next decade and
how the judicial processing in itself is going to go.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
I feel like we have to open ourselves up more
to the public. And I think it's great because it's
increased to public interest. I mean, OJ, I can remember watching.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
That, you know, sitting them.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
It came on, you know, you watched Young and the
Restless and OJ yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah, everybody knew Judge lance Edo, right, you know, I
remember that name to this day. And he's way out
in California or wherever he was the Murderall trial recently,
so Creighton Waters, Wow, he was good.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
It's great because I think, you know, whenever after that
trial you have people showing up for jury duty who
are excited because they just watched the Murderall trial. Yes,
you also, though, have to explain to them, hey, we're
in a small report room in Louisiana without those resources.
And note this, you know we're not going to sequester you.
You won't be here for a month. You can go
(20:42):
home tonight.
Speaker 3 (20:43):
And yes, and that, you.
Speaker 4 (20:45):
Know, trying to get people to understand. You know, each
district's a little different, and once you go state to state,
that varies hugely. Sure, but I think that the public
interest that it brings definitely out weighs any negativity that
can be explained.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I agree. One hundred percent. And you know we talked
a little bit earlier. Not to backtrack, but you had mentioned, uh,
the fact that in in courtrooms and things like that
these days, the responsibility of the judge and uh, you
know that kind of starts at a young age when
(21:20):
you when you have these aspirations to be whatever it
is you want to be. And I always use this
as an analogy, Uh, when kids are trigger treating. I
used to see a bunch of police officer kids right
that come up in a copy uniform or whatever. I
don't see a whole lot of that anymore. And I think, uh,
I think one of the issues with police right now
(21:42):
is case load. You know, the same as same as
attorneys and judges, and you know you have all this
this just massive case load, and so everything slows down
and you can't work from a from a police officer's case.
You can't you can't spend the time you would like
to spend on every single case because you got four
(22:04):
hundred of them, you know. And same thing from the
perspective of the court system. You know, it turns slow
because there's four hundred of them, which is why this
division came into existence. Kind of lighting that up. With
all of this kind of evolving with TV in the courtroom,
that kind of thing, maybe we'll start seeing some judges
(22:26):
come up trick or tricking at nine years old, ten
years old in a black robe. You know.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
That you said that about the police officers and all two.
I think it is to what we're exposing our kids to. Yes,
and I know I think papatrol.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
Has really helped.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
Yes, you know.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
They're not watching, They're not. Our society has reached a
point I feel like where you don't or many people
don't praise our police officers like they should put in.
They are just overworked, I believe, and like you said,
lack of resources. I know it's funny that my little
boy I have to beg him to take off his
(23:03):
police uniform everywhere we go. You would wear it all
day that I had to get him to so that
he had one whenever I watched the other. He is
now telling people he goes around vote for my mommy.
If you don't, I'm gonna arrest you.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (23:17):
I'm trying to explain to him, baby, you can't do that. No,
come on, But he though.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
That started because my mom, with watching him, she got
tired of the cartoons that are on TV. And she try,
she's a big one, you know, let's watch Scooby Doo.
You know, there's so mutching cartoons now. And she just says,
you know, I know what for watching Scooby Doo or
Bugs Bunny, They're not trying to send a message to
the four year old. So she started, you know, going
(23:46):
old school. Then also she started watching cop shows with him,
and that developed and now you know, I have a
little we call him Sheriff.
Speaker 2 (23:55):
Shep love that. Love that. Yeah, very good. Now let
me ask you. You've been an attorney for quite a while,
and uh, what would you say is a memorable moment
for you in your role as an attorney?
Speaker 4 (24:13):
I would say my adoption cases.
Speaker 3 (24:17):
Yeah, those.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
In that adoptions are always our happy days in court
because there are you know, just very tragic days.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
There is your blay days.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
You know, but adoptions always end on a high note
and you're looking at a family being made when so
often in court families are being torn apart.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Oh that's it's a really good true quote. That's right in.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
That in the adoption process, I've represented, you know, I
often will represent parents seeking to adopt or children being adopted,
I'll be a pointed to represent them, and then also
presented parents who are fighting the adoption. Sure, and that
you know it's always difficult, but you're really at that
point looking or the judge is looking at the best
(25:09):
interest of the child and making sure that that's served
in their decision.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
Yeah, and it's and it's serious business. I mean, judge
ships are serious because you are the the deciding factor
really in someone's life at a major level, right, Yeah,
And so you really want someone That's why I'm continuing
to hammer down someone that can relate to a lot
(25:36):
of different aspects of life exactly.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
And people so often say, hey, you know, I haven't
ever seen a judge before. I'm never going to see
a judge. And I'm going you don't know that.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
You could be right. You could be the victim of
a crime. Yes, you could.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Have a family member that develops a drug problem. All
of these things happen. You could be in a car wreck.
These things happen to just about everyone I know, and
that puts you in that courtroom and you don't expect it,
but it's one of those things. Don't say it can't
happen to you, because it can happen to anyone.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
That's right. That's right. And let me ask you, what's
the most enjoyable thing about working in the legal field
for you?
Speaker 3 (26:21):
I love the people aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (26:24):
Also, though I'm a very big researcher, a book worm,
I love legal research. I love, you know, figuring out
reading opinions, figuring out the different reasons that judges are
ruling certain ways, the different reasons different laws are made,
how they should be followed, how your case law supports
different aspects of those laws, and how some case law says.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
Yeah, but in this instance, you can differ.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
In your career thus far. When you were I want
to take you back to when you first you know,
you got out of law school, you're doing your first cases.
Did you envision your path leading to this at that
point in time in your life?
Speaker 4 (27:09):
That was always my hope. Yeah, it really was.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
Love that, Yes, so it was. It's been a goal
kind of from the beginning for you.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Yes, it has.
Speaker 4 (27:18):
Yeah, And that's why I've worked to make sure that
I understand all areas of the law so that I
can best serve as a judge and from different perspectives
as well, as you said, on both sides of cases.
And I think that that's just hugely important in this role.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
What message do you want to convey to voters who
are considering you as a candidate? What what? What is
something that you know? I don't want to say a
campaign promise because that doesn't sound right. But what is
it that you really want people to know?
Speaker 4 (27:52):
I really want them to know I will do my
very best to assist our community and whatever way I
can as a judge. And I think that you truly
are able to, especially in juvenile court, you know you're
dealing with people, and in misdemeanor court, you're dealing with
people who might be I guess, for lack of a
(28:14):
better term, they're almost they're at the gateway and you
can consider yourself as a gatekeeper and look and try
to figure out if you're able to figure out and
I guess, crack the case and figure out the best
penalty for the people in front of you, and you know,
in criminal court that would rehabilitate them, then you have
(28:37):
saved a life. And some of these people, in some
of these crimes, they need to be punished chargely. I'm
not at all second guessing that and I will not
waiver in those situations. But what really interests me are
the others who've come before you. And it might be
that they just didn't have a support system and they
(28:58):
fell into the wrong crowd. You know, it might be
a crime that's quote unquote you know, victimless. You know,
it might be that they got quite in possession. Yeah,
and you can figure out, Okay, is this someone who
I can get to a support group and who a
support group would benefit and if so, you know, can
we try this before we try something else.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
Yeah. I think that's hugely important. And look from one
aspect of the legal system all the way to the
all the way to where you know, these people are
sentenced to prison in some cases, it's no secret that
our prisons are related with presenters, right, I mean, they're
(29:41):
overflowing and and uh, in some cases justified and they
need to be there. But in some cases, you know,
taking pressure off of that by looking outside the box
a little bit, right, you know, just step outside the
box and see what other options are available is not
a bad thing. And that's something that's what I would
(30:02):
look for in any anyone that I would be voting
for for Judge for sure. So how can people support
your campaign? Okay, so everybody's heard this and they're all
vote for Lindy. How do they support you?
Speaker 4 (30:17):
You can reach out on Facebook also, I have a
website that you can go to. Yeah, you can any
questions that you have, any request. Of course, you know
you are more than welcome to I've been checking my
Facebook messages. I get a ton of them, so I
may be a day or two behind and responding, but
I am doing that.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Yep, very good. And a couple of fun questions for
you favorite TV judge if you had to pick a TV.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
Judge, Judge Judy.
Speaker 2 (30:49):
Judge Judy is awesome. Look, that's the first thing that
came to my mind when I was when I was
reading it. Judge Judy is awesome and the best, the
best out of you know, they had a bunch of
them come after that. It's Judge was where it was at.
I loved she's no nonsense.
Speaker 4 (31:05):
My grandmother whenever she was older, you know, I was
very close with her and her and my grandfather. They
kind of moved from you know, the price is right,
check Wheel of Fortune and we're really watched Court TV
more so, and I would laugh because you know, they're
getting on there and they're fighting, and I'd go over
there and visit and I'd be getting, you know, the
worst headache, and then it clicks with me. I think
(31:27):
they were doing that because it just reminded them of
our family. They're all in there arguing with each other,
having all their issues has shot. So I think that
that was kind of their way of, like, you know,
tapping back whenever they were more involved with people, and
you know, it's people age less and less come and visit.
So I think that it just made them probably feel
a little more comfortable.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
Oh one hundred one hundred percent. And I got a
little fun information for all of you out there on
the law that I'll share with. I actually looked up
obscure laws in Louisiana and I found this interesting. Biting
someone with your natural teeth is simple assault, but if
you bite someone with false teeth, it's considered aggravated as well.
(32:11):
I don't know why, but I'm going to research it,
I promise you. I guess maybe if you have false teeth,
it's considered like a weapon of some sort. Maybe, because
I don't.
Speaker 4 (32:20):
Know, I could envision someone doing something to their cheeth
somehow or cross teeth to cause more harm.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, maybe if they took him out and hit them
on the head. I don't know, but those in the books.
Speaker 4 (32:35):
It could be that one of our legislators got bitten
by someone.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
That could be Yeah, very good. Well, I appreciate you
coming on. I appreciate your hard work on your campaign.
Anybody out there that has followed you on Facebook can
see you are everywhere, and I sure appreciate that. And
quickly early voting is a eighteenth through the twenty ninth
of October, correct, yes, and so you are number thirty five.
Speaker 3 (33:06):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (33:07):
November fifth, of course the big day. But if you
can get out there and early vote, do it because
it's going to be along line the day of right. Yes,
definitely a couple of other elections going on that day
as well.
Speaker 3 (33:20):
Yeah, nothing too.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Nothing to major. Lenny's on there. It's all you need.
And I might see a president on there somewhere presidential things,
but you know, just make sure you vote thirty five
right exactly. There you go. Thank you again for coming on.
I enjoyed it.
Speaker 3 (33:35):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Yeah, and good luck to you. You coming up on
the end. It's so much to hear.
Speaker 3 (33:41):
Twenty seven days that I'm counting.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
Nope, nope, not that you're counting, all right, And to
all of you, thank you very much for listening, subscribing,
sharing the podcast. And we're going to link miss Lendy
McGee's information for her Facebook, et cetera in the description
of this video, so just click on that and it'll
take you right there where you need to go. We'll
(34:04):
link her website as well. So until next time, I'm
Jim Chapman reminding you love your community, support a local business,
and keep leading. Thank you very much,
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