James FX Doherty

My Positions

---

FOR: Court Accountability

I am dedicated to the notion that the law should work for everyone, but in reality- it doesn’t. I believe in personal accountability, but we also need to be candid about why most people are in court to begin with. In my experience as a lawyer, approximately 90% of the people who appear in court, regardless of the underlying charges, are there for one of three distinct reasons: substance abuse, mental health issues, or from being on the bottom of the economic scale. In many cases, it’s all three. We do not have legal or judicial issues as much as we have societal issues, and it’s going to take a collective, concentrated, and collaborative effort from all of us to deal with this reality.

The courts of this country should not be the places where resolution of disputes begins. They should be the places where the disputes end after alternative methods of resolving disputes have been considered and tried.”

– Sandra Day O’Connor

---

FOR: an Appointed Not Elected Position of Clerk of Courts

I strongly believe that this position should be appointed in the same way Judges and Clerk Magistrates are throughout the Massachusetts Court system. The Clerk of Courts should NOT be an elected position. Its purpose is NOT to develop public policy or to act in any partisan manner. The constituency of the court is not and should not be a political constituency. I believe that because this has remained an elective position, it denies many qualified individuals the practical opportunity to serve as Clerk unless they have the time, money, and political resources to run for office, which is an enormous hurdle for most people.

The notion that most people want…fine paneled courtrooms as the setting to resolve their dispute is not correct. People with problems, like people with pains, want relief, and they want it as quickly and inexpensively as possible.”

– Chief Justice Warren Burger

---

FOR: Term Limits

Some people rely on the worn refrain, “We have term limits, they’re called elections.” Problem is, this tactic is typically used by longtime, entrenched incumbent politicians. The Clerk of Courts is for six-year term. Regardless of performance or political office, NO ONE should be able to seek a fifth, six-year term for what would be for a total of 30 years, if served. Even the President of the United States has a two-term limit for a total of 8 years. This position should NOT be a position for a lifetime.

I think we want to see new voices and new ideas emerge – that’s part of the reason why term limits are a really useful thing.”

– Barack Obama