Editor’s note: The Natchez Democrat will only accept submissions supporting candidates by Oct. 28. Those wishing to send such submissions can email them to letters@natchezdemocrat.com.

“Behind every successful man stands a surprised mother-in-law.”

Generations have enjoyed jokes like this one about in-laws. I too think they are funny, but I want to tell you that any success my son-in-law Scott Slover enjoys will not surprise me at all. Slover is running for Adams County Judge, and I would like to share with you some reasons I think Slover would make an excellent judge. An integral part of my family for seven years now, he has lived under my roof, next door, and now, just a few miles away. I have observed him as he studied for the bar, dealt with his mother’s devastating cancer, married, opened a law practice and became a father. Throughout it all, Slover has remained decisive, determined and dependable.

Lee Lacocca once commented that decisiveness is the key to being a good manager. Being a judge and being a manager are closely linked in some ways. A judge must manage his courtroom and his cases carefully, and decisiveness is a key to doing this successfully. I have not seen Slover in the courtroom, but I have observed him closely in life. His decisions have always been based on the principles that he, as a lover of philosophy, has already inculcated into his life. He has a firm grasp of his own priorities, and this knowledge of himself, and has values permitting him to make wise decisions for his family, and in every other aspect of his life. In the same way, Slover’s deep knowledge of the law, as evidenced by his being barred in both Mississippi and Louisiana, will permit him to make wise decisions in the courtroom. Slover’s decisiveness as a judge will be backed up by his ready knowledge of the law, and by his own personal integrity.

Historically, justice has often been depicted as a blindfolded woman who carries scales in one hand and a sword in the other. A decisive judge, like Lady Justice, must also be determined. He must be determined to be blind to a person’s station in life; he must be determined to fight to uphold the law despite the popular opinion of the day; he must be determined to be fair as he weighs the merits of a case. I see Slover live this way every day in his personal life. Slover is determined to serve Adams County with the same integrity he shows his family, his clients and his friends each and every day.

Being decisive and determined are essential qualities for a judge, but dependability is the quality that makes them effective. Synonyms for dependable include words like “trustworthy,” “responsible” and “steady.” Dependable implies to me that an individual is, as Miss Maudie declared about Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “…the same in his house as he is on the public streets.” That is a compliment that I can freely pay Slover. Whether he is at home or in the courtroom, Slover is decisive, determined and dependable.

Ultimately, I am asking you to vote for Slover for Adams County Judge, not because he needs this job, but because his job needs a man like Slover.

 

Ann Paradise

Natchez resident