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Please Unseat this Judge

Pretend you’re a Judge. Now, pretend this predator ends up in your court (subscription):

An Albuquerque man agreed to plead guilty to a dozen child pornography charges, provided that he be allowed to perform his civic duty and vote.

Patrick O’Hara, 66, had been facing 180 years in prison if convicted of the 70 charges of sexual exploitation of children he was indicted on in November.

His son, Timothy O’Hara, 42, was also indicted on 20 similar charges.

If he asked you to let him vote in the upcoming election, would you? Me Neither. Unfortunately, we’re not sitting on the bench. However, District Judge Charles Brown is, and here is how he ruled:

Before accepting the plea, O’Hara had a question for state District Judge Charles Brown.

“Prior to your sentencing, can I vote in the June election?” he asked, referring to the June 3 primary election.

O’Hara added that he is “working on” obtaining an absentee ballot.

Brown approved the request, partly because O’Hara is not set to be sentenced until July 16.

There is good news here. District Judge Charles Brown is up for re-election on June 3rd:

State District Judge Charles Brown, also appointed in August, will oppose longtime Albuquerque attorney Gail Prosser in the criminal division.

New judges must stand for the first partisan election following their appointments. After that, they are subject to retention races every six years.

As a Republican, I can’t vote against District Judge Charles Brown, but many of you reading can. I don’t know anything about Gail Prosser, but if she doesn’t think its a good idea to grant special requests to child predators, I’d say she HAS to be better than District Judge Charles Brown.