Today, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker appointed my father, Charles V. Feltes, as the new Circuit Court Judge of Trempealeau County. Judge Feltes will be sworn in this August. If he wins election in April 2017, he will serve a six year term. Our family is very proud and I offer him these timeless passages from Sacred Scripture containing wisdom for judges:
Deuteronomy 1:17
In rendering judgment, do not consider who a person is; give ear to the lowly and to the great alike, fearing no one, for the judgment is God’s.
Leviticus 19:15
You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your neighbor justly.
Exodus 23:3
You shall not favor the poor in a lawsuit.
Exodus 23:6
You shall not pervert justice for the needy among you in a lawsuit.
Exodus 23:7
You shall keep away from anything dishonest.
Exodus 23:8
Never take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and distorts the words of the just.
Exodus 23:2
You shall not follow the crowd in doing wrong… you shall not follow the crowd in perverting justice.
1st Kings 3:4-15
The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the great high place. Upon its altar Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings. In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said: Whatever you ask I shall give you. Solomon answered: “You have shown great kindness to your servant, David my father, because he walked before you with fidelity, justice, and an upright heart; and you have continued this great kindness toward him today, giving him a son to sit upon his throne. Now, LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed David my father; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act—I, your servant, among the people you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours?”
The Lord was pleased by Solomon’s request. So God said to him: “Because you asked for this—you did not ask for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies—but you asked for discernment to know what is right—I now do as you request. I give you a heart so wise and discerning that there has never been anyone like you until now, nor after you will there be anyone to equal you. In addition, I give you what you have not asked for: I give you such riches and glory that among kings there will be no one like you all your days. And if you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and commandments, as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” Solomon awoke; it was a dream! He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, sacrificed burnt offerings and communion offerings, and gave a feast for all his servants.
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