Marcus Norris may be ready for television, but he's not ready to be the next 320th District Judge for Amarillo.
During last night's Amarillo Tea Party candidate forum, Norris told voters that he is prepared to become the next 320th District Judge because of his experiences being "under pressure" at the City of Amarillo. Norris, who served as city attorney for Amarillo, told voters that the most pressure he was ever under was during Amarillo City Council meetings when the "room [was] full of angry citizens] and "the television cameras swung toward me."
While this may be great experience if Norris was looking to succeed Judge Judy, it is not proper experience for an attorney running to be elected a district court judge.
In the 320th District Court, the person elected to become the next judge for the court will oversee a court that has original jurisdiction in all felony criminal cases, some family law cases and some civil matters. This is an important court and there is no time for learning on the job.
If Norris was serious about being the next 320th District Judge, perhaps he should have already known the law relating to family matters. Norris told voters on Tuesday that if he is elected, he will spend the next nine months learning family law. Candidates like Steven Denny and Pamela Sirmon have unique experience in courts with family law matters. Norris obviously is a few rungs below if he has to spend nine months learning the law for the court he wants to preside over.
While Norris might hope that Amarillo voters will give him a learning curve, his television experience is simply not enough to hack it as the next 320th District Court judge.
-Thomas Warren III, Editor-In-Chief
