September 19, 2004: Headlines: COS - Colombia: COS - Costa Rica: COS - Brazil: Election2004 - D'Opal: Politics: Jurisprudence: Marin Independent Journal: Faye D'Opal earned her undergraduate degree at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., then joined the Peace Corps. She held various Peace Corps posts in Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, married another Peace Corps official and started a family

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Colombia: Peace Corps Colombia : The Peace Corps in Colombia: September 19, 2004: Headlines: COS - Colombia: COS - Costa Rica: COS - Brazil: Election2004 - D'Opal: Politics: Jurisprudence: Marin Independent Journal: Faye D'Opal earned her undergraduate degree at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., then joined the Peace Corps. She held various Peace Corps posts in Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, married another Peace Corps official and started a family

By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.185.151) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 2:58 pm: Edit Post

Faye D'Opal earned her undergraduate degree at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., then joined the Peace Corps. She held various Peace Corps posts in Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, married another Peace Corps official and started a family

Faye D'Opal earned her undergraduate degree at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., then joined the Peace Corps. She held various Peace Corps posts in Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, married another Peace Corps official and started a family

Faye D'Opal earned her undergraduate degree at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., then joined the Peace Corps. She held various Peace Corps posts in Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, married another Peace Corps official and started a family

Judicial race: D'Opal's resum eclectic, far-reaching

By @byline , IJ reporter

By Gary Klien

As Faye D'Opal's opponent in the Nov. 2 judicial runoff, prosecutor Paul Haakenson portrays himself as the candidate with more real courtroom experience. D'Opal isn't buying into the argument.

If anything, D'Opal sees her courtroom experience as much broader. While she might lack Haakenson's criminal-law background, D'Opal, 65, points to her experience in civil law, family law, probate and as an occasional judge pro-temp in small claims court.

"I believe our community needs a mature judge with a broad knowledge of the law, with extensive community experience, including with the legal issues of our county," she said. "I believe our community needs another woman on the bench, and we need a judge who would bring a broad community perspective."

With nearly 29 percent of the vote in the eight-way March primary, D'Opal is in a strong position to succeed retired Judge William McGivern, who defeated her in the 1998 judicial race. For D'Opal - advocate for the poor, gay rights activist, Marin Community Foundation trustee, former Peace Corps worker - a victory in November would be the latest interesting twist in a long and unusual personal journey.

Born to a poor family in Arkansas, D'Opal earned her undergraduate degree at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., then joined the Peace Corps. She held various Peace Corps posts in Colombia, Costa Rica and Brazil, married another Peace Corps official and started a family.

In the 1980s, after settling with her family in Marin, D'Opal enrolled in law school at the New College of California in San Francisco, graduating in 1986.

"She was bright, thoughtful, extremely hard working," said San Francisco Superior Court Judge Mary Morgan, who was one of D'Opal's professors at New College. "I think she would make a superb judge. I have been on the bench for more than 20 years, and so I have a good sense of what makes a good judge. I think she is very knowledgeable about her community, she's very knowledgeable about the judicial institution, is very committed to improving the judiciary as an institution. I think she is interested in making the judiciary responsible and responsive to the community."

D'Opal, legal director of the Legal Self Help Center of Marin, has made community involvement a central thrust of her campaign. Her resum includes nine years as a pro-bono attorney for Legal Aid of Marin; five years on the board of trustees at the Marin Community Foundation; nine years as a board member of Marin Abused Women's Services; and service on the boards of Triangle Alliance of Marin, the Marin National Women's Political Caucus and the Greenbrae Improvement Club.

Mill Valley defense attorney Douglas Horngrad said that although D'Opal has less criminal-law experience than Haakenson, the fact she is not coming from the DA's office could be an asset.

"'The bench is stocked with former prosecutors, and D'Opal's a public-interest attorney," said Horngrad, who endorsed Haakenson in the primary. "There are arguments for both."

But D'Opal's widespread community activism could also increase her chances of having conflicts of interest in court. Although the winner of the November election will be assigned to the criminal division, judges rotate their assignments every few years. If D'Opal switches to the civil division, and a case involving the ubiquitous Marin Community Foundation comes before her, could she be impartial?

D'Opal said she has taken a leave of absence from the MCF board pending the outcome of the election, but she has not decided whether she will give up her board seat, a volunteer post, if elected.

"That matter's under review," she said. "I have an open mind about it, and it's under review."

By whom?

"By me," she said.

She added that she has also asked for an advisory opinion from the Commission on Judicial Performance, but has not received an answer.

D'Opal, who has two daughters, Erika and Yara, is now divorced and has lived for 20 years with her partner, Wanden Treanor, a lawyer and a College of Marin trustee. D'Opal was named to the Marin Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.

While Haakenson's endorsement list is heavy on judges, police officials, prosecutors and lawyers, D'Opal's roster of endorsements leans toward political and community figures, including Sen. Barbara Boxer, U.S. Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma), Assemblyman Joe Nation (D-San Rafael) and many others.

Kathy Hartzell, a Larkspur councilwoman and former Larkspur school trustee, said she endorsed D'Opal because her career, her personal history, her bilinguality and the fact that she is a woman make her an asset for the Marin bench.

"I like her background, I like the range of experience she's had," Hartzell said. "I support women running for office if they're qualified - and she's eminently qualified. I think it's good for the community and for young women in the community."

Contact Gary Klien via e-mail at gklien@marinij.com





When this story was posted in October 2004, this was on the front page of PCOL:


Director Gaddi Vasquez:  The PCOL Interview Director Gaddi Vasquez: The PCOL Interview
PCOL sits down for an extended interview with Peace Corps Director Gaddi Vasquez. Read the entire interview from start to finish and we promise you will learn something about the Peace Corps you didn't know before.

Plus the debate continues over Safety and Security.
Schwarzenegger praises PC at Convention Schwarzenegger praises PC at Convention
Governor Schwarzenegger praised the Peace Corps at the Republican National Convention: "We're the America that sends out Peace Corps volunteers to teach village children." Schwarzenegger has previously acknowledged his debt to his father-in-law, Peace Corps Founding Director Sargent Shriver, for teaching him "the joy of public service" and Arnold is encouraging volunteerism by creating California Service Corps and tapping his wife, Maria Shriver, to lead it. Leave your comments and who can come up with the best Current Events Funny?
 Peace Corps: One of the Best Faces of America Peace Corps: One of the Best Faces of America
Teresa Heinz Kerry celebrates the Peace Corps Volunteer as one of the best faces America has ever projected in a speech to the Democratic Convention. The National Review disagreed and said that Heinz's celebration of the PCV was "truly offensive." What's your opinion and can you come up with a Political Funny?


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Marin Independent Journal

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Colombia; COS - Costa Rica; COS - Brazil; Election2004 - D'Opal; Politics; Jurisprudence

PCOL13984
68

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: