Throughout my campaign for judge, I have questioned the efficiency of the current Juvenile-Probate division of the Vanderburgh Superior Court. I will continue to do so. Under its current leadership, the court has become so inefficient, that it has become ineffective. For over three decades, the Superior Court maintained a well defined structure with “Paternity†cases being filed and resolved in the Juvenile division. These cases generally involve a single parent attempting to obtain child support or hoping to receive parenting time with their child. Emergency paternity hearings were being set up to 8 months in the future after being filed. For example, under Judge Niemeier’s system, if a parent were to file a paternity action to get parenting time with a 5 month old child, the parent would not likely set foot in the Juvenile Court until after the child’s 1st birthday. That’s unacceptable and yes, inefficient.
Paternity filings began to noticeably increase in 2008 and they quickly became backlogged due to the fact that Judge Niemeier refuses to hear paternity cases. This is not a new problem. Prior to the “Reorganization†of the Superior Court on September 1, 2012, paternity cases represented approximately 1/3 of this Superior Court division’s total case load. Not until I challenged my opponent for re-election to a third term, did Judge Niemeier feel compelled to act. Does making the first comprehensive change to Superior Court in 30 years just 8 weeks before the election seem coincidental? I’ll leave that up to the voters to decide. Regardless, I commend the other Superior judges for stepping in and picking up the slack.
I am running for judge because I want the opportunity to make a difference in our community. I’ve witnessed the current Juvenile Court system firsthand, and it’s in trouble. As an Evansville native and father to 2 young children, I have a vested interest in not only their safety and security, but of your children and grandchildren as well. I am not part of the establishment. I am not running as the attorney’s judge. I am not running for endorsements and awards. I am running as a new kind of people’s judge.
FOOT NOTE: POSTED WITHOUT OPINION, BIAS OR EDITING.
Nobody but the political machine in town is voting for you. Any thinking person knows Niemeier is the best fit for the job. Go back home to Daddy Warbucks Blackard and pull those God awful signs down!
Thanks for the endorsement: I’m voting for Blackard.
I,m voting Blackard also. We are in dire need of a change. VOTE!!!
Actually if you vote for Barry, you get 2 100 bills. Not change.
Funny cause it’s true
Money really scares people ice noticed throughout this election. I’m voting for Blackard for judge and change that us greatly needed in juvenile court! @mine I can see you were never taught any manners! never use the lords name when bashing people, he doesn’t like it!
I think it turns voters off when large amounts of money are poured into judgeship races. It may be unfair, but people are going to question the motivation of those who give “large” amounts to a candidate for judge.
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I’m not turned off by the amount of money pumped into election for judges. Judges are political, they just don’t have to pick a party. If a person follows election and appointments we know their party affilliation. I would bet Judge Young is a democrat, might be wrong, but he was appointed by Clinton. Bet Judge Heldt is a democrat, might be wrong, but he was appointed by Bayh. I’m going to vote for Blackard because we need to change every so often. If we had of changed the city council more often, its possible we wouldn’t be pouring money in the downtown dark hole.
It’s a real shame to buy a seat on the bench. There is a reason that he won’t take money from lawyers. There isnt any that would give to his campaign.
Mr. Blackard has had the vision of working with juveniles and putting in place many much needed changes. The works is ever changing and as a community we need to change with it. Mr. Blackard is the change we need. All anyone can say negative about Mr. Blackard is that he has money, to young and that he’s too inexperienced to be a Judge. How many times have one of you lost out on a position because someone thought they had more experience and you were the better guy for the job….I’m betting many of you have. Why doesn’t anyone question the fact that Wallace raised way more then Lloyd?
I think experience is something you might want when deciding innocence or guilt.
Nobody likes Lloyd, and many would like to see her go. That’s not the case with Brett. He’s a good judge. You have “no idea” what you are talking about with regard to juvenile court. It’s a good court and Brett is an excellent judge. Blackard was asked why he picked Brett, and he admitted that he thought Brett has less name recognition than Lloyd. It’s that simple. He wants to be judge, and he thinks he has a better chance against Brett. The rest is manufactured crap.
It is flat out not true that nobody likes Judge Lloyd and many would like to see her go. She has tremendous support from the local attorneys. Just look at the Bar poll results. However, the rest of your statement is accurate. It bodes well for Judge Neimeier that Mr. Blackard’s statement sounds like he copied from Mr. Wallace by claiming he doesn’t want to please attorneys and the long planned Court changes were only made because he’s running for the Judgeship.
It’s a shame no one seems to have read Blackard’s second paragraph above, which is the real gist of the argument. Blackard has REAl, substantive changes for better for the Juvenile Court that will not occur unless he is elected.
The shame here is that you got into this race with zero knowledge of Brett Niemeier or juvenile court. I am disappointed in your leap of faith. Why didn’t you take the time to ask the lawyers that sit on council before you gave your endorsement to Blackard? This tarnishes your reputation. It’s unfortunate. There just are not needed changes in juvenile court. I practice there. Brett has been nothing but responsive to the feedback of the community and lawyers. Why don’t you stick to something that you know about? If we were electing doctors I would pay more attention to what you have to say.
Actually, I did ask the lawyers I have known for decades…
With Niemeier having such a high approval rating among attorneys, I would be very curious to know who you actually consulted that practices in juvenile court. After all, Paul Black doesn’t practice there. Nice try though to defend your support.
Randy, how many people are in the bar that were provided an opportunity to vote and how many turned them in? Once you see that number and static then you will have a better understanding. Because your am idiot if you think everyone of the bar voted for Niemeier. Dr. Adams I would agree with you 100%! Mr. Blackard does have many substantive ideas that will help the juvenile/probate division run more efficiently and effectively.
I’m sorry Bradley! I got your name wrong
“your am idiot”? Who’s the idiot now? I just reviewed Blackard’s campaign report. What a man of the people. The vast majority of his money comes from literally a handful of people- mostly family and people from outside of Indiana. He said he wouldn’t take money from people or companies involved in the courts. What a joke. Many of the companies owned by his supporters are involved heavily in litigation. I would rather have contributions from lawyers that do not have something personal at stake in the litigation they are involved with. Mr. Blackard’s ideas are stale, bad or already being done. He’s been caught at numerous speaking engagements with bad information and ideas that have already been implemented. He just wants to be a judge and without earning his way there through his legal work. It will be a travesty to children in this community if this dolt is elected.
That’s all you got, is to point out a misspelled word. I wouldn’t want to respond to my question either JTF! When people respond in such a way as you have, shows your temperament. Are we a little crossed by so many comments?
Um, you didn’t ask a question. And I did respond to each of your points or Mr. Riley did. Niemeier is very popular and Blackard doesn’t have good ideas. How many ways should I say it for you to comprehend?
If you are referring to the question you asked Mr. Riley, how do you know he’s referring the surveys when he says Niemeier is popular? He could easily be, and the facts would bear that out. The people who responded represent about half of the bar, and he got very high marks. The lawyers who don’t respond often aren’t litigators or don’t practice in that particular court. They probably don’t have an opinion. Of the ones who had an opinion, they clearly preferred Niemeier to Blackard.
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