Barry Blackard: An open letter to the Evansville Bar Association

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Fellow EBA Members:

As the local judicial campaigns continue to grow closer, I wanted to take the opportunity to reach out to my fellow members of the Evansville Bar Association and introduce myself both as a candidate and as an individual. For those of you whom I have not already met, my name is Barry Blackard and I’m currently involved in a race to replace a current Superior Court Judge, Brett Niemeier.

I am a 32 year old native of Evansville, a graduate of Central High School, Indiana University, and the John Marshall School of Law. I began my legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Judge Carl Heldt of the Vanderburgh Circuit Court. For the past 6 years, I have served as an attorney in the Vanderburgh County Public Defender Agency handling hundreds of felony criminal cases in both the Circuit and Superior Courts, including matters in the Juvenile Division. My wife Kristyn and I have two boys with a daughter to arrive after the first of the year.

The Vanderburgh Superior Court Juvenile – Probate division needs a change in leadership. The Court is not user friendly to attorneys or the general public. Since taking office in 2001, Mr. Niemeier has had an opportunity to address the longtime inefficiencies of this Court, but has chosen to do nothing. Just last week, all Paternity (JP) matters, which account for approximately 1/3 of Mr. Niemeier’s case load, were transferred to another division due to growing backlogs. Whatever the excuse, that is unacceptable. When elected, the Juvenile – Probate division of the Superior Court will no longer be just the Juvenile Delinquency/CHINS Court as it seems currently. Delinquency and CHINS matters will no longer be preferred over you and your client’s Estate matters.

As Judge, the following changes will take effect immediately: The Court will no longer micromanage your law practice Eliminate threatening mail correspondence from the Clerk and from the Court which can both embarrass the attorney and panic the client. The Court will strive to honor an attorney’s busy schedule and greatly reduce the time spent in court Group cases together with common litigants Reduce unnecessary “Progress Dates” The Court will finally conform with the filing procedures of the other Superior Court divisions Allow counsel to file mark and stamp Agreed Entries Allow your clerical staff and runners to initiate lawsuits Restore Due Process in CHINS matters The Court will no longer faithfully follow all DCS/CASA recommendations and will allow you to argue your client’s case on the merits The Court will work in partnership with the various committees and all members of the EBA to improve how the Court functions.

As a candidate challenging an incumbent judge, I would appreciate any feedback that you as EBA members and as practitioners have regarding the above proposes changes to the Juvenile – Probate division.

I hope that I can earn your support.

Barry Blackard

Candidate for Superior Court Judge

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24 COMMENTS

    • I don’t know which one is correct in their allegations. Can we get a declaratory judgement from an impartial court?

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  2. Barry has a plan to make the court process more efficient and more user friendly. You got my vote.

  3. Why did paragraph #4 seem to lose all semblance of punctuation? It seemed to devolve into a giant run-on sentence.

    Correct that ghastly punctuation and we’ll talk about my vote. Kids are the future and they deserve a juvenile judge who will serve as an example of impeccable grammar.

    I only partially jest. It’s akin to receiving a job application where the applicant can’t spell his own name or formulate a coherent sentence. This always looks bad.

    • I agree. When reading “as Judge, the following changes will take effect immediately:” I expected the changes to take place 6:48 p.m. yesterday evening, as if Mr. Blackard were already judge.

  4. Come on Brad lets focus on the issues of the campaign not the “Kings English”.

    Both are honorable man with different views how the office should be ran.

    Let the real debate begin!

    • My reply started out as a joke, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized grammar is pretty important. I would agree with that a slip up here or there in casual speech or communication is unimportant, but when you’re writing a letter that is to be published as part of a serious campaign, that’s another story. In this case good punctuation is advisable. That said, I am reserving judgment until I hear more on the issues, hopefully in a format I can easily follow without inserting my own periods and commas. 😀

  6. As I understand it Judge Niemeier has vowed to end all of his sentences with a period. The only loose end in that matter is the length of the period.

    The politics in this town are a sorry joke.

  7. This is a ridiculous letter. Why don’t your refer to your opponent as “Judge Niemeier” which any good attorney should know to do. You seem to know to do that with your former boss. From the research I have done it appears that Juvenile/Probate/CHINS are all still Judge Niemeier’s. Only Paternity was transferred to another court. To me it sounds like you are going to strive to make things easier for attorneys, and your focus should be on the children of this county.

    • That’s what I’m saying!

      Blackard’s letter says he will make the estates more important than the children, who were taken from meth-lab and roach infested homes! The Indiana Statutes say that of all cases in court, CHINS cases come first! If you want dead people to come before mistreated children, vote for Blackard!

      • Blackard is correct. But it is a secret he is not supposed to talk about. Whenever anyone is in court it is the estate that is being robbed. An estate you don’t even know exists. Your certificate of live birth was probated and an estate was created without your knowledge. All ‘charges’ are against the estate and your signature allows the estate to pay the ‘charge’. All crimes are commercial. According to 27 CFR 72.11, burglary; counterfeiting; forgery; kidnapping; larceny;
        robbery; illegal sale or possession of weapons; prostitution; extortion; swindling; and
        many other things, like simple addiction to drugs or marihuana use, are considered and
        defined as “Commercial Crimes” where you are converted to an object for “commercial
        use” and Due Process of Law becomes a farce!

  8. I am sorry but I have a few objections over Barry Blackard.

    #1 This letter was addressed to the Evansville Bar Association. Not to the standard public lay person.

    #2 I do not agree with his assessment that Niemier has done nothing. Niemier has been in the paper nearly every month for the last year with changes going on. I am thinking that Niemier is reaching his stride now…

    #4 It is well known in the community that our judges don’t “OWN” a case. And that they rotate judges in and out of the courtroom like substitute teachers in a school. I don’t see Blackard changing that fact.

    #5 His letter seems to cater to attorney’s and not the family in court. I believe this letter was written from exactly that context and it implies the method and means that he will run his office. I have never liked the backroom deals that happen when judges and attorney’s conspire and this letter to me reeks of that.

    #6 Blackard has got to be the most politically connected judge in town. He obviously has been bank rolled for this job. Have you seen all of his obnoxious signs in town? OMG they are EVERYWHERE! Isn’t this guy the reason that KEB called for a reduction of political signs?!?

    #7 Blackard seems to have the right qualification from the perspective of working from within the judicial offices, but he does not seem to have real working cases in which he has had a client/attorney relationship with juveniles in the court system. He has only be employed by the taxpayers all his life?!?

    I am sorry, but all this just doesn’t cut the mustard. Niemier’s qualifications and record still trumps.

    NI

  10. DEAD PEOPLE AND THEIR $$MONEY$$ BEFORE CHILDREN!!! NOT FOR ME!!
    ATTORNEY’S NEED REMINDERS FROM THE COURT AND SOMETIMES THEIR CLIENTS DON’T COOPERATE WITHOUT COURT NOTICES. I WOULD APPRECIATE THE REMINDER AND I’M SURE THE ATTORNEYS DON’T TAKE OFFENSE TO THIS. IT’S ASHAME THAT CAMPAIGNS ARE COMING DOWN TO WHO CAN SPEND THE MOST AS SEEN BY WHAT MR. BLACKARD HAS SPLATTER ALL OVER OUR COUNTY, MEDIA, ETC. YOUR MONEY COULD BE USED TO DO SO MUCH MORE!! MY VOTE IS WITH NIEMEIER!!

  11. I AGREE THAT IS RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL TO REFER TO A JUDGE AS “MR.” DID YOU NOT LEARN THIS IN LAW SCHOOL??

    • The problems with the courts today is lack of respect! Lack of respect for self, children and authority! But when a member of the bar addresses a letter with “Mr,” instead of Judge, the sky is really falling!

  12. I’ve known Brett NIEMEIER for 15 years and I always called him Brett, but when he became a judge, I called him Judge! He has told me that I don’t have to do that. But I DO. That’s the respect that my family instilled in me. At nearly, 60, I still call my friends’ parents and former teachers: Mr. or Mrs, or Miss or Ms!
    Brett Niemeier has earned the respect of Judge! MR. Blackard has a lot to learn!

  14. Judge Nemeier cares greatly about the many abused and neglected children here in Vanderburg county. He does take seriously the opinions and reports from DCS/CASA because they are the ones who also care about helping these kids. I am a CASA and have been since 2007. I can’t imagine walking into that courtroom without Judge Nemeier sitting front and center. He has got 100% of the DCS/CASA support and votes. We are very important because we are there for the children and so is he.

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