Tuesday, June 26, 2012

BARTON COUNTERS ERIN'S "SHE'S NOT A LAWYER" CLAIM

By Jim Barton
www.meanmisterbrownsville.blogspot.com
Certainly you heard the story.
 Yolanda Begum was handing out push cards in the Villa Del Sol Senior Living High Rise on E. St. Charles Street when Erin H. Garcia walked in with her team, stepping in front of Ms. Begum and shouting: "Don't vote for her. She's not a lawyer!"
 One Hernandez supporter shouted out to the whole room: "Don't vote for Begum. She's not a lawyer. She can't give you legal advice."
Ignoring the boorish, ill-mannered behavior for a minute displayed by Norma, Erin and their followers, what about the question: Should a Justice of the Peace be a lawyer? Does it help?
Recently, a longtime Houston Justice of the Peace commented on the matter: "Actually, being a lawyer does NOT help you to be a good justice of the peace. This common court is not about lawyering, but about common sense and life experience. Law school doesn't qualify you as a JP. In fact, every elected justice of the peace, lawyer or non-lawyer has to immediately receive 80 hours of training, then 20 hours annually about the role. It's a different set of skills."
The JP went on to say that most justices of the peace are not lawyers and that's for a reason.
"Being a lawyer actually is a hindrance. It creates a conflict of interest. Let's say a woman comes into your court as a victim of domestic abuse. You might say privately, as a lawyer, 'I can help you.' But as a JP we're not allowed to give legal advice. We offer rulings, settle disputes, but we don't give legal advice. Maybe fatherly or motherly advice, from our life experience, but not legal advice. About the only place being a lawyer might help would be in evicting people from their homes, but those rules are not difficult to learn."
Perhaps, this is why in Cameron County:
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Bennie Ochoa, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2-1, Linda Salazar, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 2-2, Kip V. Johnson Hodge, is a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3-1, Julian Sanchez, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3-2, David Garza, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 4, Manuel Flores, Jr. is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5-1, Sally Gonzalez, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 6, Juan Mendoza, is NOT a lawyer.
Justice of the Peace, Precinct 7-1, Adam Gonzalez is NOT a lawyer.

Erin Hernandez Garcia would have you believe that MOST of those serving as Justice of the Peace in Cameron County are not qualified to serve because they are not lawyers. Actually, the opposite is true. The above folks have life experience, compassion and empathy; the very traits Erin lacks. Yolanda Begum, on the other hand is respected in the community because of her kindness, compassion and understanding. Many in Cameron Park and throughout Brownsville remember her patience and understanding in working with truant students, teaching them art and life skills. Those are the traits and life skills necessary to be an effective Justice of the Peace.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

A person need as healthy dose of common sense and an understanding of how the person on the street sees life to be a decent judge at any level.

Being a lawyer does negate having the above. However, if a person gets so wrapped up in the law, that he/she can't see the forest for the trees, then a legal education can be a hinderance.

So, in my opinion being a lawyer is secondary to having common sense in the JP roll. The issue or whether or not a person is a lawyer or not, should not determine who is best qualified. Who has the best common sense is far more important.

But the issue probably doesn't matter down here. Vote for you compadre, that is what everybody else does. Maybe they can help you if your get your nuts or tits in the vise.

Anonymous said...

I don't have a dog is this race. But I can tell you, Erin H. Garcia is NOT A GOOD LAWYER. Turns out, she's pretty rude and a disrespectful person, to boot!

oh, woe is me said...

This pity party does not sway my vote.

Anonymous said...

Find a new topic - This Yolanda/Erin cat fight has been worked over enough. Isn't there anything else newsworthy to expound on? Why don't you do some huffing and puffing for the $4 at BISD. Awful quiet on that subject...

disgusted said...

I second that. I also must say that I find it rather find it hypocritical that Ms. Begum, who is such "a classy and cultured lady" would allow her three paid bloggers to stoop to the tactless personal attacks on Erin H. Garcia that seem to be the norm for the Begum campaign.
It is one thing to place a political opponent in a negative light based on their professional merit, but to constantly throw such personal and denigrating comments out there about Ms. Garcia's gender is an insult to all women including Ms. Begum. Remember, women vote also and as a woman , I would not vote for someone who would allow such vile misogynistic attacks on another female. Who is really running that campaign?

Anonymous said...

Who is to blame for Erin's dramatic drop in support? Could it be her own uglyness on TV, facebook and fuglier behavior in public? It is quite possible the bilingual voters along the border, take a wee bit of offense when English only candidates make fun of those with Spanish accents. Families with cancer chemotherapy survivors may also fail to see the humor or join Erin in laughing at Begum's hair. Some lose all their hair in cancer treatment, don't live to see it grow back. Observers might consider Erin's outbursts at the day cares and the mysterious disappearance and slashing of Begum's signs, to be bad sportsmanship, downright rudeness, or theft and destruction of property. A law degree, as pointed out, does not guarantee common sense. Perhaps, Erin comes across exactly like one expects a spoiled rotten brat from a family of two-bit crooks to behave. What do you think?

Anonymous said...

It is funny how the Hernandezes think that anybody that don't like em has to be paid by begum, i don' think anybody has enough money to pay all the Hernandezes detractors

Anonymous said...

ATTORNEY IN THE NEWS . . . san antonio express news . . . 6/27/2012


Begum, who moved into the San Antonio market from Brownsville a few years ago and has grabbed a big chunk of the personal-injury business, has faced other barratry complaints.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Legal-assistant-files-barratry-suit-3664600.php#ixzz1z39AAVRj


"tell me who his friends are and . . . . ."

o m g said...

So that is why Begum is pushing his mother to be JP, to pick up cases that get appealed? that is illegal, no?

Anonymous said...

A yawn worthy allegation. Begum doesn't need or want the small traffic citation cases from a JP court he already does multimillion dollar trial cases from all over the Valley. Only the Hernandezes would think of electing a family member to make some money off it. It was Erin who was directly implicated with the vending machine contract scandal after her dad was elected. Besides, Alex is not the one running for JP.

Anonymous said...

Erin Garcia thinks being a lawyer makes her special and above us ignorant non lawyers. Well so did Limas and Marchan. No law degree can replace common sense and integrity.

Anonymous said...

No one has said non lawyers are ignorant. That came out of your head and onto this page. Erin is just more qualified for the JP position than Ms. Begum. Barratry is illegal and three times is a charm.

Anonymous said...

LOL!! pot kettle black...
After decades of scandals, vending machine scandals, t shirt scandals, vote fraud scandals, the Hernandez look like morons even mentioning the opponent's son
como el burro hablando de orejas

Anonymous said...

1/3 of $10,000 is $3,333. Minimum of three of those cases a month, $9,999. That is approximately $120,000 a year, that is a big chunk of change.

Anonymous said...

First, the allegation against Begum was made by a disgruntled employee who got fired. She had a criminal record including theft, assault, fraud.....

There was no victim or client who complained of anything against Begum. Although the allegations are clearly false, the disgruntled employee blamed a lawyer in SA who was working for the law firm. There were no allegations against Begum himself.

rita