Published: October 11, 2008 08:36 pm            

Cullman woman running for state court

When it comes to being a good judge on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, to Kimberly Drake, experience is key.

“I’m out daily in the trenches working on different cases,” Drake said. “I’m seeing what it’s like. And I don’t have assistants. We have to do all the groundwork ourselves.”

Drake, who is running for Place 1 on the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals as a Democrat, has spent the last few years doing appellate work with her husband’s law firm.

“I do all kinds of cases — juvenile, DHR (human resources), social security disability,” Drake said. “And I do a lot of appellate work for criminal and civil.”

Though not a native, Drake has lived and worked in Cullman for most of her life. A graduate of Cullman High School, Drake attended the University of Alabama, where she obtained first a bachelor’s degree in history followed by a degree in nursing.

“I like handling social security cases and workman’s compensation cases because of my medical background,” Drake said.

Drake decided to become a lawyer after she started helping her husband with paperwork and research at the Drake Law Firm in Cullman.

“I decided I wanted to help juveniles and work with DHR cases,” Drake said. “I started nursing during the day and taking lawyer classes at night.”

Drake said she decided to run for civil appeals mainly to change the way the court has been run over the last several years.

“One of the reasons is because of the lack of oral arguments,” Drake said. “I don’t feel they’re (judges) spending the time they should on providing oral arguments.”

In her response to a questionnaire from the Associated Press, Drake said oral arguments are vital and relevant to the appellate process. She said such “question and answer” sessions give the court the opportunity to learn much more than what is written in briefs.

In addition, Drake said she decided to run to add some balance to the court of civil appeals.

“Right now, all five judges are republicans,” Drake said.

Along with her experience with appellate cases, Drake said her funding sources or lack thereof, make her the best choice for a civil appeals judge. She said unlike other judges on the civil appeals court, she is not funded by bankers, insurance companies or corporate attorneys.

“We’re just a grassroots campaign,” Drake said. “We have different Democrat organizations and individuals funding us but no contributions from any special interests.”

Such limited funding would keep her free from conflicts of interest if elected, Drake said.

While Drake is completely against the appointment of judges, she said she does believe the way in which judges are elected in the state should be changed.

Drake said judges should be elected by districts similar to congressional districts.

“That will help citizens know the candidate,” she said. “It will force it (election) back into the hands of local voters.”

‰ Patrick McCreless can be reached by e-mail at patrickm@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.

        

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