According to the Daily Times poll on this subject 86.5% believe a judge should not take contributions from attorneys.

(link...)

Hopefully this means 86.5% will be voting for Meares.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

From Meares:

“I do not believe that the people of Blount County will allow the election to be bought,” he said. “I don’t think, ultimately, the outcome of the election will be determined by money.”

I'm not sure how we got so far out of whack a statement like that needs to be made. Obviously, in Blount County it does - but that doesn't change the fact it's a shame it does.

From Duggan:

“There’s no reason not to take money from the legal community,”

Aside from the fact it makes a mockery of the legal system, I guess there's not. Maybe the machine has all their remotes stuck on FOX. Otherwise, they would be hearing that the rest of country is looking for, and voting for change. And you don't get change via the good ol boy answer of we're doing it this way because "that's just how it's done".

Maybe I've watched too many courtroom dramas, but isn't any case that involves money, going to end up with lawyers instructing the jury to "follow the money"?

The same applies for Blount politics.

Someone must have greased up the local machine to get those votes on the poll. Now, if the DT has the balls to print the truth they will acknowledge that their poll has been freeped and stick with the results as AB posted them. The normal amount of votes on any given day is less than 175... unless someone is pointing out the flaws in the machine and then the county cars get parked so they can go freep the poll.

For entertainment indeed.

I see both Sherriff Berrong and his attorney, Prince, have contributed. Cant be too careful. Never know when that could come in handy.

And Daily Times attorneys, of course, Goddard and Gamble.

And Craig Garrett, lawyer to the lawyers and so often in the good graces of Judge Dale Young in cases of SDAs and ex-wifes burning furniture.

Not to mention Judge Dale Young himself. I guess any guy he thinks is a good judge has to be a real winner.

Best for last, Cunningham, the boss hawg of Blount County.

Duggan, on the other hand, took in $50,750 in campaign contributions — with $41,500 coming from people donating $100 or more. Of that amount, $11,250 came from people listing their occupation as an attorney — attorneys Craig Garrett, David Boyd, Carl McDonald, Robert Goddard and Arthur Goddard each gave $1,000, the maximum allowed by law. Other attorneys who donated to Duggan include: Brent Johnson, Maryville, Robert S. English, Knoxville, Tommy Hindman, Knoxville, Stephen S. Ogle, Maryville, Damon Wooten, Maryville, Duncan V. Crawford, Maryville, Joe H. Nicholson, Maryville, David T. Black, Maryville, Norman Newton, Maryville, L. Lee Kull, Alcoa, Bruce E. Poston, Knoxville, Gary M. Prince, Knoxville, James M. Garner, Maryville, Chris Conner, Maryville, Eugene B. Dixon, Maryville, W. Keith McCord, Knoxville, Jon G. Roach, Knoxville, Robert H. Watson Jr., Knoxville, Ronald C. Leadbetter, Knoxville, Daphne Moffatt, Maryville, and Jason C. Rose, Maryville. The list also includes Blount County Assistant District Attorneys Robert Headrick and Tammy Harrington, and Blount County Public Defender Mack Garner.

Other names of note who contributed to Duggan’s campaign include sitting Blount County Judges W. Dale Young and Mike A. Gallegos, Blount County Sheriff James Berrong and Blount County Mayor, and former U.S. Attorney, Jerry Cunningham.

The County General Election is being held in August, not November as noted in the article.

SeeJaneRide
This list of Duggan's contributors is amusing. Most are Republicans who tunnel deep into the rear-end of the party. Which is to say....yeah, you get the idea. It's a shame to see Assistant DA's Harrington and Headrick getting caught in that undertow.
Bottom line: Duggan should NOT be taking money from lawyers. He knows it. His efforts to justify it are beneath him. Worse, the attempt is beneath the intelligence of the voting public. You'd think he would have been happy with his cozy appointment as a judge. Good pay, great benefits. But, no. He is proving himself a pawn of "those" Blount Republicans who want to manipulate our community.