Hailey attorney Douglas Werth, who claims he'll be a better judge than Robert J. Elgee, is running on a platform he calls "judicial restraint."
"That's not just a slogan," Werth said in a recent interview. "I believe that judges should follow the law, not make the law. There have been a number of decisions made by Judge Elgee where I think the judge's reasoning was wrong."
As one example, Werth cited Elgee's decisions two years ago on a Cove Springs development court case.
"He failed to show judicial restraint by striking down several county ordinances in their entirety without looking at the context in which they were applied," Werth said
In the Cove Springs case, Elgee reviewed the appeal of a decision wherein the Blaine County Commissioners denied a development plan. Elgee was criticized by some county officials for striking down several county ordinances that the judge determined to be illegal. The case, involving property south of Bellevue, was ultimately settled out of court. An amended development plan was approved by the County Commissioners last year.
Werth is running against Elgee for the Blaine County 5th Judicial District judge position. Voters in the district's eight counties will decide the issue on May 25.
Werth said he was not recruited by county officials to run against Elgee because of the Cove Springs case.
"I was not approached by anyone within the county to run," Werth said.
Rather, Werth said, he decided he wanted to someday become a judge when early in his career he worked as a law clerk.
"The seed of wanting to serve on the bench was planted in my early days of work with judges," he said. "I decided that it was the right time to run for this judge position.
"Clearly, I believe I can better serve the 5th Judicial District or I wouldn't be running."
At 48, Werth has 25 years experience as an attorney. He has served as a deputy attorney with the Idaho Attorney General's Office and as a Blaine County Prosecuting Attorney. He is currently in private practice and is one of five attorneys or firms that have public defender contracts with Blaine County. Werth also serves on the Blaine County Planning and Zoning Commission.
Werth said he has a "larger skill set" than Elgee "in researching the law and applying it correctly." He also said his 10 years of experience as a prosecutor, compared to only two years of prosecution for Elgee, gives him a greater understanding for victims of crime.
He declined to comment whether he thinks Elgee is sometimes too lenient in criminal sentencings, but likened himself in philosophy to "more like Barry Wood," a now retired 5th Judicial District judge who Werth said "understands the protection of communities in sentencing."
"I think he's [Wood] got a good eye on who needs to go to prison and who doesn't," he said.
If elected, Werth said, he'll be a judge "that's not going to shy away from tough cases."
"The biggest trial in Blaine County last year was the Jeffrey Marsalis case, and Judge Elgee sat on that case for eight months and disqualified himself a month before trial," Werth said. "The only reason he gave was the appearance of impropriety. In my view, judges are paid to try tough cases and not disqualify themselves from tough cases."
The Marsalis trial was held in Boise because of pretrial publicity in the Wood River Valley. Marsalis, who was found guilty, had two prior sex crime convictions and was sentenced by Senior Judge Daniel Hurlbutt Jr. to life in prison for raping a woman in Sun Valley in 2005.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
Hailey attorney Douglas Werth, who is challenging Judge Robert J. Elgee for his job, says that judges “should follow the law and not make the law.” Photo by David N. Seelig
