A judge is supposed to set an example for the community

As a victim of a DWI and as the founder of Crusade Against Impaired Driving, I get disappointed and disgusted when I read about DWIs in the newspaper.

This evening I was beyond disgusted to hear about a Niagara County judge who is running for town justice in the primary Tuesday, despite the fact that he was convicted of a DWI himself last year.

Here's a link to the story in this morning's Buffalo News.

I so wish I lived in Niagara County, so I could vote against Judge Matineck, and I urge voters in that area to vote for his opponent.

How can someone who's been in law enforcement for 25 years, a judge for a term run again for re-election with a DWI on his record? He blew a .18 and now he says
"re-elect me"? I'd like to remind the readers of this blog that the drunk driver convicted of killing my sister blew a .14. Martineck could have injured or killed someone. Luckily, he was arrested before that happened.

I'm trying to hold back my anger right now, because I've said countless times that in most cases, I know police in this area are doing their jobs, arresting the DWI offenders, and too many times judges are not giving offenders the penalties they deserve and enforcing the laws on the books.

Now Judge Martineck says he doesn’t think the conviction will hurt him at the polls, no, he thinks it might have made him a better judge.

“If anything, it helped me to see the other side of the coin,” he said. “I’ve been through everything I put defendants through.”

What?

I disagree. I urge voters in Somerset to say "No, Martineck, we're not trusting you to be a judge in our town anymore. We trusted you to set an example, and you threw that opportunity away when you got a DWI."


Until next time...

Deanna


P.S. On a brighter note: Have you seen the photos from our 3rd Annual Softball Tournament and Fundraiser? Check out a wrap-up and see photos here.