J35 prevented former State Representative and Democratic gubernatorial candidate James Smith from being elected to the position of Circuit Court Judge, 5th Judicial Circuit, Seat 1.
House members adopted a joint motion to recommit the election to the Judicial Merit Selection Commission on April 17, 2024, by a vote of 70 to 36. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because justice is the overall purpose of civil government, and the care of human life—not its destruction—is its greatest responsibility. However, a judicial system is only as good as those who apply the law. James Smith’s open and unabashed support for abortion, as revealed in his endorsement from Planned Parenthood, renders him unfit to hold public office, particularly that of a judge. The right to life is the most fundamental, God-given, and “unalienable” right asserted in the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Fifth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.