PBC Court Judge, Group 2 Candidate - Lourdes Casanova

Casanova  is running for an open seat on the Palm Beach County Court.  It's the only judicial race in this election.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey, Joel Malcolm for w Jand O dot com, and my election

(00:03):
spotlight is on the one judicial racethat you will find on your ballot this
year. It's the only judicial race, which is a rarity. Maybe perhaps
the candidate we were about to speakto can shed some light on why she
thinks it is that way, butnonetheless, it's one judicial race and it's

(00:24):
for Palm Beach County Court Judge Grouptwo. Three candidates in this race,
and we have one of them onwith us now, Lords Casanova, thank
you for joining me. Thank youfor having me, Joel. It's an
honor to be here. Any anyindication as to you know, I don't
know. Maybe they've been talk aboutwhy these you know, I've been covering

(00:45):
elections here in Palm Beach County foryears. I can't recall a time when
there I remember one time there wasprobably seven or eight, but I can't
recall a time where there were,you know, almost none. Why do
you think that is, Well,it's not that often that someone runs against
an incumbent, and this is anopen seat. Judge Boris is retiring,

(01:07):
and he's the only judge who's retiringat the end of his term. Some
of the other vacancies, I shouldsay some vacancies have occurred, actually several
of them, but they have occurredand gone to the you know, through
the appointment process because of the timingof when the judge retires. Yeah,
and you mentioned Judge Boris. TedBoris a long time pom Beach County Court

(01:27):
judge retiring stepping down. So Iguess that makes sense that maybe maybe the
time I'm thinking about where there wereseveral races, there were you know a
lot of people retiring or for onereason or another, some were just getting
challenged. But nonetheless, well,I appreciate you joining us. Let's uh,

(01:48):
let's talk about you give us somebackground on you education experience. Obviously
that's mostly what we could focus onwith these races. Sure. Absolutely,
Well. I'm a lifelong resident offa Each County. I was raised here,
been here since I was three.I went to all of the public
schools in Royal Palm Beach. Iwent to the University of Florida for undergraduate
and law school, and I beganmy legal career as a prosecutor, where

(02:12):
I litigated in the county court daily, and I mean every single day.
I managed a case ft to threeto four hundred cases and I conducted jury
trials. So really, I creditmy time as a prosecutor as a time
that made me a litigator. Andnow as a private attorney, I founded
my law firm eight years ago,and as a private attorney, I'm still

(02:36):
focused on the county court system.I expanded my areas of law and I
litigate in the criminal, civil andtraffic divisions. Again, like I said,
with a focus on the county court. I'm really proud of being a
business owner and I'm also very involvedin the community. I want to give
back to the community that has givenso much to me. So I ran

(02:58):
the Commee County has Spanning our associationlast year at the same time that I
was running my business. Needless tosay, I know that I can run
an efficient and effect this courtroom.But in addition to all the legal organizations
that I'm a part of, I'minvolved with non legal organizations because I believe
in giving back to residents outside ofthe areas of law, right outside of

(03:20):
the legal world and special Olympics isone of the one of the main organizations
that I volunteered for. Something nearand dear to my heart. So you
started as a prosecutor, You said, what if you could speak to what
you feel that specific because you haveyou know, prosecutors, you have defense

(03:42):
attorneys that you have lawyers working oncivil cases things like that, and they
all run for judge. What aresome of the things that you feel like
that gives you a leg up asfar as you know being a former prosecutor.
Oh, court room mixpere litigation experience. We douse litigation and courtroom experience

(04:03):
is not exactly the same thing trialexperience. Just having to do things efficiently,
effectively, quickly, but also accurately. And as a prosecutor, you
have a dual role. You arenot only someone who is prosecuting or necessarily
bringing a case against someone. Idon't want to call it quasi judicial,

(04:27):
but your job is to do justice. Your main job as a prosecutor is
to do justice, whatever that maybe. So there is some sort of
neutral component there where you have toreview cases from the perspective of justice and
not necessarily prosecution. And you knowwithin that you review warrants for sufficiency under
the Fourth Amendment. You argue cases, you argue motions, motions to dismiss,

(04:51):
motions, to suppress. There areso many things that encompasses the job
of a prosecutor, and I thinkit really makes you a well rounded attorney
and someone who is prepared for thebench. And it's it's government work,
right, and a judicial feat isworking within the government that I've worked in
government empirvate practice. We often hearin these in these races, these types

(05:16):
of races, and in previous years, you know, we'll hear about a
judge, for instance, that iseither stepping downn you know, retiring,
or a judge that's being challenged thatyou know, you'll have claims from together
candidates. And I'm not saying that'sthe case here because I don't believe any
of the three of you are.I haven't been a judge yet, but

(05:40):
it's happened before another in other raceswhere well, this judge, you know,
isn't very nice to the people infront of them, this and that
and the other. Can you canyou speak to how you would be as
a judge. It would be bedsidemanner if we were talking about the medical
field, right, But you knowwhat I'm I think you know what I'm
trying to get at. Yes,we're talking about imper and demeanor. And

(06:00):
I think that my endorsement and theover two hundred and twenty committee members that
I have on my campaign speaks tothat we have a strong group of people
have made up of legal and communityleaders who support my campaign, including our
former Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Box.But I also have the endorsement of our

(06:24):
local police and our firefighters, aswell as the National Organization for Women and
endorsements aside and support a side.I would not have been successful as a
business owner for eight years if itwasn't for being a people person, if
it wasn't for treating people the rightway and having the right demeanor and temperament.
And because I do various areas oflaw within the county court system and

(06:46):
some even outside the county court system, I've interacted with people from all walks
of life, and I've handled people, you know, with situations where they're
considered to be at their worst,and I've been able to exercise patients compassion
and also continue to be efficient andeffective with each case. All right,

(07:08):
Ultimately, final question, there arethree candidates here. You are one of
them. In a nutshell, whyshould folks choose Lord of Casanova for Poveach
County Court Judge Group two. Joel, I'm the only candidate who has all
the qualifications that would benefit the CountyCourt bench, and by that I mean
county court experience, executive leadership skillsby way of running a business and a

(07:31):
bar association at the same time,an active community involvement. Excuse me,
active community involvement. But there's somethingthat I want to talk about that I
didn't mention previously, and it's mywhy. I am first generation Americans and
this conversation couldn't have come at amore meaningful time. As a matter of

(07:51):
fact, a couple of days beforeour nation's first day, my parents fled
Cuba to escape satalitarianism, and asyou know, in a's atalitarian country,
there's no respect for the rule oflaw, there's no due process, and
for my family, that resulted inpersecution. So as an example, my
mother was subjected to forced labor,my grandfather and my uncle are battered by

(08:15):
government officials, and my uncle's fatherwas taken from his home, imprisoned and
then executed by firing squad. SoI can tell you that I'm the only
candidate who understands the importance of preservingliberty in the courts by following the rule
of law, by preserving separations powersand due process. And I know this

(08:37):
not from a textbook. I knowit from birth. It's in my blood
and it's from my family's experience.And so I truly believe that we need
judges on the bench who are goingto adhere to the rule of law.
And I am permitted to that,all right. And the County Court refreshed
my memory on that, because wehave the Circuit Court, of which there

(09:00):
are no races, and then theCounty Court, of which this is the
only race. It's criminal and civil. But is that how it works?
But what's the difference in the two, Yeah, So both of them are
trial courts. The county Court handlesa wide range of citizen disputes, so
it's traffic offenses, misdemeanor crimes,and monetary disputes of fifty thousand or less.

(09:24):
In circuit court, you know,you also have criminal but it would
be felonies on the money side,it's over fifty thousand dollars. So County
Court is actually known as the people'scourt. It's the lower of the two
courts. I don't like to saylower, because I consider them both extremely
important. But it's the people's courtbecause a lot of people represent themselves,

(09:45):
especially on the civil side. Onthe criminal side, you have the right
to mon attorney. On the civilside, you don't. And because these
monetary disputes are of a lower amountas compared the circuit court, a lot
of people believe that they can't affordor they shouldn't pay for an attorney for
something. Let's say, for alawsuit that might be ten thousand dollars right,

(10:07):
and it might cost ten thousand dollarsto get an attorney. And so
why it's important to know this isbecause you need a judge who has that
what you were talking about earlier,the temperament and demeanor. Because you're not
only dealing with attorneys who know therules of procedure, who know the law,
and who know the rules of evidence. You're interacting with a lot of
pro se litigants and you need tohave that patience, that compassion, but

(10:31):
also the efficiency, the ability tomultitask and to be a decision maker to
move these cases along while also beingpatient with the people who are not attorneys
and don't understand. We believes allright, well again, I appreciate you
speaking to the voters of Palm BeachCounty. Again, the only judicial race
on your ballot, pom Beach CountyCourt Judge Group two candidate Lord of Casanova.

(10:56):
Thank you for joining us. Thankyou so much for having me.
It was an honor.