For the June 6 New Mexico primary elections, SFR will call up candidates in the CONTESTED races to test their knowledge. The rules for Pop Quiz are as follows:
No research allowed and if they call back later with the right answer, too bad.
To see who answered correctly (or came closest), check out our answer key below.
Questions:
1. What types of legal cases does the Magistrate Court have jurisdiction over?
2. How many continuing education hours are magistrate judges required to earn each
calendar year?
3. What is the difference between a "dismissal with prejudice" and a "dismissal without prejudice" in civil action cases tried in Magistrate Court?
4. What two things do "Lady Justice" statues typically hold in their hands?
5. There is at least one Magistrate Court in every New Mexico county except one. Name that county and explain why it doesn't have a Magistrate Court.
6. What "Judge" from Beverly Hills Cop resides in Santa Fe?
7. Name a prominent case tried in Magistrate Court in the last year that you have followed and explain why that case was of particular interest to you.
8. Have you ever been to Magistrate Court as a defendant or a plaintiff? If so, what were the circumstances regarding your appearance?
9. Who is your favorite television judge, Judge Judy, Judge Wapner or Judge Joe Brown and why?
10. On the ideological spectrum of jurisprudence, do you consider yourself closer to US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (conservative), Justice Anthony Kennedy (moderate) or Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (liberal)?
Answers:
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Roman Garcia, 62, is a property manager, "semi-retired" for the duration of the campaign.
1. Landlord/tenant disputes, civil actions under $10,000, criminal cases that are binding over to District Court and then there's some property interest cases.
2. I believe it's 10 hours during that one year.
3. They can be re-filed "without prejudice."
4. A scale and…the second one I don't recall.
5. I have no idea about the one that's missing.
6. I give up. I'm not an avid TV watcher. Wait…his name is "Judge" but I can't think of his last name.
7. Most cases in Magistrate Court are routine and I don't recall any high-profile cases that I would have followed.
8. Yes, I have. As a plaintiff, I have taken over 200 cases to trial through my work with landlord/tenant disputes as a property manager.
9. I prefer watching Judge Judy because of her fire and honesty. Basically she does a good job of explaining the law and how a case can be resolved.
10. I would say Ruth Bader Ginsburg because I think she's the most open-minded. Scalia has an open door but a closed mind.
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David Segura, 47, is a retired captain with the Santa Fe Police Department.
1. Primarily it's misdemeanor cases when we're talking about criminal acts, everything from breaking and entering to misdemeanor assault and that type of thing. It also has civil obligations in terms of civil disputes under a $10,000 amount…and it also has jurisdiction over traffic citations.
2. Forty.
3. The "dismissal with prejudice" simply means that the case could not be re-filed while "without prejudice" means the case could be re-filed.
4. Typically it's the Scales of Justice and the second would be…the Bible.
5. That would be Bernalillo County. Bernalillo County has a Metropolitan Court because of the statute that requires any county with over 200,000 population have a Metropolitan versus Magistrate Court.
6. I don't know [laughs].
7. I don't know that I've followed any particular case in Magistrate Court in the past year. The one that would come to mind in Municipal Court was some years back involving a local politician but nothing in Magistrate Court in the past year.
8. No, I've never been to Magistrate Court as a defendant or a plaintiff.
9. I don't have a favorite judge on television and, quite honestly, I feel that those programs do a disservice to the court because they don't truly represent the decorum that's required in a court and all the seriousness that that entails.
10. I would have to say that I would probably be in the center like Kennedy.
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Eli Senna, 29, is a self-employed political consultant and community organizer.
1. They handle both civil and criminal cases, misdemeanors up to felony arraignments. As far as criminal cases, they deal with DWI, domestic violence, robbery and that sort of thing. As far as civil cases, they deal with things like property disputes, landlord/tenant, those types of things. I think the only thing they don't deal with is family law, like custody and divorce.
2. I would have to guess but I would say anywhere from 10 to 30.
3. I think it's something like double jeopardy where the same claim can't be tried twice.
4. The Scales of Justice and…the Constitution.
5. That would be Bernalillo County and I believe that's because of the population.
6. [Laughs] That would be Judge Reinhold, one of our finest actors.
7. Well, I know that one of the most high-profile cases that I can remember was the Sammy Vigil case many years ago. I also know that-it's true of all high-profile cases-the Magistrate Court is the first court that any person goes to before they go on to District Court or Federal Court. It all starts in Magistrate Court.
8. Yes, I have. When I was in high school or college many years ago I actually had to go before Judge Bill Dimas for a speeding ticket…It's what made me want to be a judge today.
9. Although I do respect them all and I don't get a chance to catch their shows as often as I'd like, I have a thing for that lady Judge Judy. She's a tough cookie.
10. I would consider myself fairly liberal and, believe me, I don't align anywhere with [Samuel] Alito or [John] Roberts [laughs]. I have a lot of respect for Sandra Day O'Connor but, out of the current ones, I think I would probably most associate myself with Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Answer Key:
1. The areas where the Magistrate Court has jurisdiction include tort claims, contract claims, real property rights, felony preliminary hearings, misdemeanors, DWI/DUI cases and other traffic violations.
2. According to the New Mexico Administrative Code, each magistrate judge must complete 15 hours of continuing education training each calendar year.
3. A "dismissal with prejudice" means the dismissed claim may not be brought again in any court. A "dismissal without prejudice" means that a party may sue again on the same causes of action.
4. Lady Justice statues vary, but most hold Scales of Justice in one hand and a sword in the other.
5. Bernalillo County does not have a Magistrate Court. The Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court was established in 1980 by consolidating the Bernalillo Magistrate Court, Small Claims Court and the Albuquerque Municipal Court in accordance with statutory requirements of being a county with a population of more than 200,000 people.
6. Actor Judge Reinhold, co-star of the Beverly Hills Cop trilogy, resides in Santa Fe.
