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For use by Stonewall Democrats of Dallas
2014 Judicial Candidate Questionnaire:
(Note: Judicial candidates are asked to ONLY answer the Judicial
Candidate questionnaire,and NOT the County or State Level
questionnaire!)
1. Why are you seeking the endorsement from Stonewall Democrats
of Dallas?
Your endorsement is very important to me for many reasons. The
first and most important reason is toknow that I have your support.
I know and have known your members for years. I have great respect
foryour organization. Your opinion is important to me. If I fail to
get your support, I will need to know whyand what I need to do, if
anything, to regain your support. Secondly, I have been around long
enough inthis community to know how powerful your group has become.
Any candidate that wants to win anelection needs your help.
2. What are your plans to participate in a coordinated campaign
in the general election?
Regardless of whether I win or lose in the primary, my plan is
to spend my time turning Texas blue. Iwant Wendy Davis to be our
next governor. And, I will work for that to happen.
3. Will you use the Stonewall Democrats of Dallas endorsement in
or on:
a) your website -Yesb) your campaign literature and mailers -
Yesc) your social media assets (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) - Yesd)
your campaign advertisements Yes
4. When elected, how will you recruit, retain, and create a
friendly environment for LGBT and LGBT-friendly staff?
I have been the judge of this court since 2007. You will find
that I have made it a point to have afriendly environment in the
204 th . I try to make the working lives of the prosecutors,
probation officers,clerks and bailiffs as stress free as possible.
The stress should only come from the seriousness of thecases that
we deal with on a daily basis. Whenever issues come up regarding
discrimination or negativeviews of race, sex, religion, sexual
orientation, I deal with those immediately and professionally. I
donot, nor should any judge, tolerate prejudice of any kind.
5. Would you be willing to appoint a liaison to meet with the
LGBT community on an ongoing basis? If not,why? Of course.
6. Understanding that administrative matters can take up a
significant percentage of your work day, whatare some ideas for
policies or procedures that you think you can improve court
operations for the courtwhich you are seeking office? What are the
most important policies or procedures you've identified asneeding
improvement?
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Since becoming judge of the 204 th in January, 2006 I have
worked to improve every aspect of the criminal justice system. I am
not exaggerating when I tell you that a lot of work needed to be
done and still need to bedone. The following are the specific areas
in which I have worked to improve:
1. The appointment of qualified court appointed-attorneys. We
made history in Dallas County when weactually developed a wheel to
use in the appointment of attorneys, as required by law. Prior to
2006, therewas no formal wheel and thus no accountability on the
part of the judges making the appointments. JudgeRick Magnis, with
my help, was able to convince the judges that we needed to change
the system. It was noeasy task.
Another goal that I have is for all of the judges to stop
appointing lawyers that do not effectively representtheir clients.
We ve got a few lawyers that hardly ever go to trial making close
to $200,000 per year on courtappointments. Many judges use these
attorneys instead of using the wheel, in order to satisfy
theCommissioners demands that they lower the jail population.
However, I do not appoint these attorneys.My goal is to see that
justice is done.
2. Reasonable pay for court-appointed attorneys. We need good
lawyers that want to represent the indigent.
Seventy percent of the defendants in Dallas County qualify for
indigent representation. If you only get poorquality lawyers, then
the quality of justice will suffer.
3. I am the only District Judge that is working on a project to
develop a new case-management softwaresystem. I think it important
to make sure the software developers understand the role of the
judges inorder for them to tailor the program to our needs. It is
very time-consuming, but it very much necessary.
4. Judges must work on reducing the crime rate. Studies have
shown that this is possible through hard work.All judges need to
improve how each case is handled to reduce the likelihood of
recidivism. I have developedmy own procedures that have been in use
for a few years.
5. I have also worked on projects involving probation, specialty
courts, bail bonds, interpreters, documentupgrades as well as many
other things.
I, __Lena Levario_____________________________, am seeking an
endorsement from the StonewallDemocrats of Dallas.
Signed___________________________________
Date__________________________12/30/13
