Endorsement for Arnold Goldin, Chancery Court Judge Part 2

This race is another no-brainer: an unqualified endorsement for Arnold Goldin.

The Commercial Appeal has a short bio for Goldin:

Chancellor ARNOLD GOLDIN, 56, was appointed to the bench in 2002 to replace the late Floyd Peete Jr. He was elected in 2004 to finish the remainder of Peete's term. Goldin is one of the most respected judges on the bench, has earned accolades from attorneys who appear before him and should be re-elected. Goldin has a solid legal background, with 28 years of law experience.

More impressive are the write-ups by local attorneys. David Caywood writes:

Those of us who have practiced before Chancellor Goldin are of the opinion he is one of the finest Chancellors that any of us can remember. When you walk into his Courtroom he usually knows more about your case than you do and he is fair to all parties and renders timely and scholarly opinions.

While Richard Fields effuses:

Chancellor Arnold B. Goldin is one of the finest Chancellors in the history of Shelby County. He was appointed in 2002 and elected to fill and unexpired term in 2004. He was voted Judge of the Year in 2004 by the Young Lawyers Division of the Memphis Bar Association and is past president of the Tennessee Trial Lawyers Association. He has also served as Honorary Chairman of the Committee to preserve the legacy of Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks. He is always wellprepared, fair to all parties, and his written opinions are timely and scholarly.

Running against Goldin is someone completely unqualified for the position. Here is the Commercial Appeal's blurb:

His opponent is Carlee McCullough, 38, an attorney in the City of Memphis' office of contract compliance. McCullough says Chancery Court should have a woman serving on the bench and, because the court handles many divorce cases, none of the current judges "have experienced divorce. Therefore a divorcee's perspective is not represented."

Yeah, that's what I want. A bitter divorcee presiding over divorce cases.

But the full story is actually much, much worse, as related by attorney David Caywood (emphasis added):

She was recently divorced from Scott Crawford , a former attorney who went to Federal prison as a result of his involvement with the Gangster Disciples. Before their divorce, Ms. McCullough and her husband owned the Ivy Cat, the former Justine s Restaurant. It was a financial disaster and investors lost all of their money. Ms. McCullough has twice been declared ineligible to practice law in California as a result of not paying her Bar dues and not taking the mandatory Continuing Legal Education programs. In addition , without having the required license Ms. McCullough is presently passing herself off as a CPA which is a violation of Tennessee law. She has been warned about this by the State of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance and was sent notices May 8 , 2006 and May 22, 2006. As of yesterday, July 10 , 2006, Ms. McCullough has not responded to the Complaint. However, in her present job with the City of Memphis assisting minority vendors, she has been involved with Reginald French's contracts with the City of Memphis which have been the subject of news media stories. In addition the records reflect Ms. McCullough has been involved in only two (2) cases in Chancery Court and in each of those she was a litigant. One of those was her own divorce case which she handled herself and another was where she was being sued. If that were not enough she was only licensed to practice law in the State of Tennessee last year, 2005. Ms. McCullough has no standing to become a member of our Judiciary.

Meanwhile, attorney Richard Fields calls Ms. McCullough "the most dangerous judicial candidate on the ballot" (emphasis added):

Ms. McCullough’s personal and professional life have been marked with serious problems. Ms. McCullough was married to Scott Crawford, a former attorney who went to federal prison recently concerning his involvement with the Gangster Disciples. Before their divorce, Ms. McCullough and her husband operated the Ivy, the site of the former Justine’s. It was a financial disaster and her investors lost all of their money. Ms. McCullough is liable for over $50,000 in judgments which she is paying off at approximately $400 per month.

Before returning to Memphis, Ms. McCullough was licensed in California, and her law license was suspended twice for non-payment of fees.

As the City of Memphis Contract Compliance Officer, Ms. McCullough has certified a business as a minority contractor that was in fact operated by white males. In 2004, American Medibanc was certified as a female business enterprise for an ambulance fee billing contract of over $1 million per year, which in fact was being operated by two white males. It was recently determined that while Medibanc had the contract, it did not have the capacity to do electronic billings for all of its accounts, and the City of Memphis may have lost over $2 million in untimely billings to Medicare and other insurances. Ms. McCullough has taken no action to recoup these funds.

She now seeks to award the ambulance fee collection contract to Affiliated Computer Services even though the services will be subcontracted to a firm in Philadelphia. This contract was protested in April of 2006, but the protest hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Arnold Goldin has been endorsed by:

• Comercial Appeal
• Shelby County Republican Party
• Attorney David Caywood
• Attorney Richard Fields

His opponent, Carlee McCullough, has been endorsed by:

• Shelby County Democrat Party

The Shelby County Conservative Republican Club has not made an endorsement in this race.

Technorati Tags: Tennessee Politics, Tennessee Shelby County Judicial Races of 2006, Arnold+Goldin, Carlee McCullough, Avoiding Unqualified Judges.

 

Posted on Wednesday at 8:14 AM in category Judicial Candidates
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