Bradley-Sneed Forum Turns Turbulent

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Superior Court Judicial Candidate Robert Sneed had some stark criticism for incumbent Judge Roger Bradley last night during a debate hosted by the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce. Sneed’s assault started as early as his introduction, persisting through out the debate.

Local Attorney and Municipal Judge Robert Sneed is challenging incumbent Superior Court Judge Roger Bradley for the office of Superior Court Judge in the Appalachian Circuit.

In his introduction, Bradley described the courts under his guidance as functioning smoothly. He added that if the voters of the Appalachian Circuit would like the courts to continue to run smoothly they will vote for him in July. For his part, Sneed gave a brief introduction and then proceeded to deconstruct Bradley’s argument.

As early as his introduction, Sneed said the current court system is broken, calling it a mess.

“Everyone I’ve talked to continually tells me how they have no confidence in his (Bradley’s) ability of his adjudication of cases,”

he said. He also accused the judge of having an extreme case backlog on the court’s calendar, noting that orders are not being filed in a timely manner. He emphasized that orders are required to be filed within a 30-day period and reiterated this was not being done. Some cases are taking four to six years to move through the system, he said. Further, Sneed asserted tax dollars are being squandered through insufficient operations of the court. Repeatedly through out the evening, Sneed said he was concerned most about child custody cases.

“It takes two years to get a (child custody) hearing; who’s looking out for those children in the meantime?”

he said.

Since the event was a forum and not a debate, Judge Bradley did not have specific opportunities to refute Sneed’s charges, but addressed some of them in his answers to other questions.

“The truth of the matter,”

Bradley said at one point,

“is that our back-log for civil cases is non-existent with all three judges.”

The judge did admit, though, the court system does have a back-log of criminal cases. He justified the back-log by the constant flow of criminal cases, saying the constant flow will never stop, so presumably a back-log will always exist. Also, during an answer on negotiated pleas, the judge explained,

“If it were not for negotiated pleas, the back-log would be much greater.”

During a question on judicial impartiality, both candidates agreed that decisions must be rendered on the evidence and circumstance presented before the judges. Sneed, however, accused Bradley of playing favorites to certain attorneys.

“Certain attorneys,”

he said,

“always seem to win in front of Judge Bradley…that is not impartiality.”

Here, Sneed received a round of applause from a few audience members. Bradley, though, did not have the option for rebuttal, but previously said,

“Impartiality…has to be based on the information presented before you.”

Also, here, Bradley gave a swipe back at Sneed, defending himself against earlier accusations.

“He(Sneed) has never been there (in Bradley’s court), never experienced it,”

the judge said,

“doesn’t know how I address jurors; doesn’t know how I address my courtroom; doesn’t know how I move my cases through and I will tell you that if you ask any of the other judges, I move cases through as fast as any of them.”

As the forum wound down, the two candidates retreated to closing remarks. Judge Bradley said the court system is functioning smoothly and, if voters voted for him in July, it will continue to function smoothly. He also commented that, unlike, Mr. Sneed, he did not come to the evening’s event with an out-of-town cheering section. Sneed said he did not have an out-of-town cheering section and was tired of hearing the term “outsider.” He said he was born and raised in Georgia, and has made Blue Ridge his home.

“If I’m designated as an outcast or not-a-local then so be it,” Sneed said, “but it’s time to change what’s going on.”

FYN will soon post this video of the event

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