Dear editor,

Several years ago I had a very bad experience before Judge Tommy Jones — the fourth circuit judge currently running for re-election — an experience that haunts me to this day.

My fellow citizens, you never know when you might find yourself before one of these judges. And you have to remember that they are elected officials that work for us not to treat us with favoritism but with fairness … sometimes I think that they forget that.

This is not a letter to endorse a candidate since I have no dog in this fight — for obvious reasons the incumbent won’t get my vote and his opponent isn’t much of an alternative in my view — but to implore you to vet the candidates running for the fourth judical judge’s seat and get out and vote.

Alabama’s judges are among the best compensated in the nation and they also have the power — in my case for the worse — to change lives. I urge you to get out and vote in this election … it’s too important not to pay any attention to.

Terry Lewis

Selma