Fourth Judicial District - District Court Judge
Honorable David L. Shakes
Retention Year: 2006
Recommendation: Retain
Reports:
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The Fourth Judicial District Commission on Judicial Performance, by a vote of 10 to 0 of all members, recommends Judge David L. Shakes BE RETAINED.
Judge Shakes was appointed to the Fourth Judicial District bench in March, 2003. Judge Shakes most recently was in private practice and previously served with the United States Army Judge Advocate Generals Corps.
Judge Shakes bases his judicial philosophy on the words of Socrates: “Four things belong to a judge: to hear courteously; to answer wisely; to consider soberly; and to decide impartially.” Judge Shakes has added to that philosophy, “to follow the law scrupulously.”
Judge Shakes, in his personal interview, said that he had read the survey comments and had already developed a plan to deal with areas of concern. For example, he presented a workable plan for expediting his docket. Judge Shakes’ volunteer and community activities include serving as a Teen Court judge and service on the Board of Directors of Court Care.
The Commission considered 74 written evaluations of Judge Shakes from attorneys and non-attorneys, a self-evaluation completed by Judge Shakes, performed a courtroom observation, letter from the public, and conducted a personal interview with the judge. Written survey results showed that 100% of attorneys recommended retention, with 4% expressing no opinion. The survey results also showed that 93% of non-attorneys recommended retention, with 6% recommending non-retention; 6% of non-attorney respondents expressed no opinion on the question of retention.