Bar Defends Non-Rating of Kline Challengers

Re “Columnist Is Right: Kline Should Resign,” Letters, May 12:

Whittier Law School professor Mario W. Mainero Jr. said the Orange County Bar Assn. “didn’t do its job” by not evaluating the write-in challengers to Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald C. Kline. Mainero penned his letter without learning the facts: Time constraints made an evaluation impossible.

The list of judicial candidates was set by the registrar of voters Dec. 10. The bar had prepared a draft of its questionnaire ballot form by Dec. 21. The printed forms, cover letter and envelopes were mailed to about 7,000 bar members Jan. 14, and the committee’s ratings were released Feb. 26, just days before the March 5 election. The process included interviews with the candidates and with lawyers, judges and others who were in a position to evaluate the candidates.

The write-in situation was different. Write-in candidates had to submit signatures to become certified by the registrar. The deadline was Feb. 19, just 14 days before the election. The registrar certified 11 write-in candidates, but there was no time to mail 7,000 questionnaires, retrieve and tabulate them, identify and investigate references and interview 11 candidates. In a perfect world, it would have been nice; in the real world, it was impossible.

Richard W. Millar Jr.

President, O.C. Bar Assn.