Update to a brief diary I wrote a couple of months back, calling attention to Simone Levine, a candidate for Criminal Court judge in New Orleans. Ms. Levine indeed made it to the runoff election and won with a few hundred votes.
It was a hard and honestly fought campaign. As one attorney friend put it, it was a rarity in New Orleans: the most qualified candidate running the most ethical campaign and actually winning.
On Friday, GF and I attended Judge Levine’s swearing in. The ceremony was a perfect illustration of why we need people like her in public service.
It was not a small affair, but filled the local Firefighters Union hall to SRO capacity. In attendance were supporters, the District Attorney, current and former judges, and most of the members of the City Council, including some who had supported Levine’s opponent but spoke warmly of her nonetheless.
The invocation was led by a priest, a rabbi, an imam and a minister. (Though they did not walk into a bar, champagne was served after). A land acknowledgement was presented by the Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation.
Speaker after speaker noted Levine’s accomplishments, from her stint as Deputy Police Monitor to leader of Court Watch New Orleans, to working in the DA’s office, even noting her career as a boxer and boxing judge. They spoke of her detailed knowledge of the court system and the multiple perspectives on that system she brings to the bench.
It was a profoundly moving event celebrating the elevation to public office of someone completely worthy of the honor.
I relate this story as a small inspiration to fellow poly junkies. There are so many times you pour your heart into a campaign, only to see the opponent take it and live down to your worst expectations. Or, maybe worse, your candidate makes it in… and quickly proves to be just another pol on the make.
But sometimes, sometimes… you put your dough and your voice and your cred behind a candidate and, miracle one, they win and miracle two, they turn out to be exactly the honest, dedicated public servant you’d hoped.
Sometimes it actually works.
PS: Hard to pass up a moment on the rec list without some shameless self-promotion, but I’ve little to plug right now. Since “Pedestal,” I’ve only made a few short vignettes, mostly New Orleans-centered. The latest: