We have been dreading writing an editorial endorsing Judge Reese Melville. Dreading it not because we don’t believe Judge Melville is the best man for the job or has not been a fine Justice of the Peace.

We dread it because Reese is our friend and has been for longer than we care to remember. Reese is the guy we ask to watch our house when we visit grandchildren and children. Reese is the guy with the truck we borrow when we need a guy with a truck and Reese is the guy who gave the internship at the court to our son when our son said he wanted to learn about the law.

None of this is secret but we know the moment we officially endorsed him, no matter how cogent our reasoning or brilliant our logic, someone would think “Yeah you are just saying that because you are friends.”

For the record we endorse Judge Melville not because he is our friend but because he is a good judge.

The thing is we don’t have to go over his record as judge simply because as long and as hard as one might look no one will find a character reference for Toni Fratto.

For us and for any West Wendover voter that should be the deal breaker even more so since Ms. Fratto’s horrific confession has been released.

Sorry Mr. Boatman those who write letters for child killers should not be put any where near a gavel let alone take up the bench.

We do not care what your reasons were, we don’t care how indebted you felt toward her parents writing that letter was crossing a line that you should not have crossed.

You say it  you did not ask for leniency and then you say you don’t have a copy of the letter.

We know where you could get one. You could call Parole and Probation, or Fratto’s lawyers or even Judge Papez. We have their phone numbers and they all have copies. One if not all of them would give it back to you as its author.

We think the voting public would be very interested to know its contents.

Personally we aren’t that interested. The fact that you wrote one is good enough for us.

To be completely honest however the person running against Judge Melville would have had to have been the second coming of the great jurist Oliver Wendell Holmes. Reese is after all the guy with the truck we borrow when we need a guy with a truck. In good ol’ boy speech that is about as close a you can get without getting married.

3 thoughts on “Show Us The Letter, Mr. Boatman”
  1. I find it kind of odd that he erased it from the computer he typed in on…oh wait, maybe it was hand written…I doubt it!!!

  2. I fail to see the purpose of this. It was a personal decision that had nothing to deal with the position of which they’re competing for. We can spend all day on the play ground throwing rocks at each other if you would like or we can grow up and realize that in reality. We are all the same. Everyone has their hardships. This is America I believe, I don’t think I need to reassure anyone that we ARE still free to do what we believe in excluding what everyone believes. Sometimes, those who do things differently are going to make the biggest impact. Its no ones business what he typed up. It was written as a personal, unofficial document. This article is very unprofessional, why would you make such a mockery out of your business?

  3. We lost so much in the 2011 year. We lost a beautiful young lady full of life, I lost my mother, my best friend and others lost loved ones as well. We help others out of the kindness of our hearts. We are not set here on this earth to judge or be judged by our peers. Only one person can do that and he is above watching us. Lets let the Constanzo family have peace for once in their long struggle to find a peaceful path to the tragedy they have suffered in the loss of a daughter, sister, aunt, niece and best friend. How can we expect them to not only cope with their loss if every week they have to be reminded of what was so harshly taken away. Mr. Editor you have the power in your hands to write what you please this is your paper but put yourself in their shoes and reflect on the pain you cause so many as a constant reminder of what was lost. Let everyone REST IN PEACE, but never forget who she truly was a loved one a cherished one. No amount of slander or demanding of letter from a JP candidate will bring peace to anyone. Vote for the person you think will best fit the position and look at what they have accomplished, achieved and succeeded.

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