On Nov. 3 we will elect a new judge to serve our county from the bench of the Montgomery Superior Court II. It is not often that we, as voters, elect a new judge.
Although our judges serve six-year terms, we have been fortunate to have men and women on the bench who served us well and were reelected for so long as they wished to serve. This year, therefore, presents us with an opportunity that does not come around often.
My vote on Nov. 3 will be for Christopher Redmaster for Judge of Superior Court II. While I have known him and worked with him and against him for 30 years, I have never shared an office with him. We are not “friends” in our personal lives, do not belong to the same church, do not live in the same neighborhood, and do not have children who were in school together. I know Redmaster as an attorney, and I respect him as a conscientious, hard-working, compassionate, intelligent, and knowledgeable advocate for the rights of his clients. A judge needs to have all these qualities and, in addition and perhaps more importantly, the experience to “manage” a court and the maturity to preside over the courtroom with decorum, to be lenient when appropriate and tough when required, to be respectful to attorneys, witnesses and litigants when they deserve respect and to take appropriate action when they do not. Presiding over a courtroom is not an easy task, but Montgomery County has been fortunate to have judges that modeled for Redmaster and all of us why judges are addressed as “Honorable.”
I realize it can be easy sometimes to vote for a candidate with a familiar name or from a family you know, but justice depends upon having on the bench the person most qualified to serve. In 2020, I believe Redmaster is that person and ask that you cast your vote for him on Nov. 3.
Patricia McGaughey Sosbe
Crawfordsville
