More News Columnists

• Bill Slakey: As Trib closes, many questions remain unasked
• Phill Casaus: Don't cry for us, Albuquerque; it was worth it
• Joline Gutierrez Krueger: My Wall of Fame holds memories of people, stories that have mattered

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

We in the news business love sources who can string words together brilliantly and sound-bite-worthy at a moment's notice, and few are better at that than Bob Schwartz.

Robert Schwartz, I suppose we should call him since he is one of three distinguished finalists vying for a vacancy on the 2nd Judicial District bench — the court in Albuquerque.

You remember Schwartz, the flamboyant, amply mustached former Bernalillo County district attorney and Gov. Bill Richardson crime czar whose whiplash wit outmaneuvers the wittiest. Which I suppose is why he has been, at varying times, a lawyer, politician, columnist, government hired gun, talk-show host, TV commentator, teacher and comedian.

He made speaking his mind an art form, and he did that in clever, brash style.

Schwartz, as a Tribune columnist, once advocated spaying and neutering those who prey on children, opining that to stop the cycle of child abuse, "sometimes we need a cleaver, not a courtroom."

I loved that.

Schwartz's straight shooting, naturally, has sometimes met with folly. For example, he was canned during a commercial break from his KBTK-AM talk-show gig in 2002 for criticizing his radio bosses on the air. Once, he challenged Danny Romero Jr. to a match after the boxer chickened out of a fight.

"I always seem to have the need to do things differently and say things differently," he once said.

And he says so truthfully, for better or worse.

Which is why, on first blush, Schwartz's answer on his judicial application concerning substance abuse was so surprising.

The question: "Have you been addicted to the use of any substance that would affect your ability to perform the essential duties of a judge? If so, please state the substance and what treatment received, if any."

The answer: No.

What? Hadn't Schwartz publicly disclosed his battle with the bottle in a 2001 news conference during his ill-fated run for mayor?

"I know these things because alcoholism almost stole my family, my house and my career," he said in a Tribune article.

Schwartz's answer on the judgeship application seemed uncharacteristically, um, disingenuous. Apparently, one of his detractors agreed and surreptitiously provided reporters and editors copies of Schwartz's application along with newspaper articles in which portions about his self-admitted boozier days were marked.

Schwartz, now the chief prosecutor for the state Department of Regulation and Licensing, had a few choice words about the implication that he had been dishonest.

"If the angle here is that I'm trying to hide something, I'm not that stupid," he said. "The position I am up for is one in which you exercise judgment, and believe me, there was no lapse of judgment in the application process."

Schwartz explained that he discussed his alcoholism recovery in a confidential statement to the judicial selection committee.

He also explained the two-part nature of the question: Did you have an addiction and did it affect your job?

"My drinking never ever affected my ability to do anything," he said. "When I was drinking, I was chief deputy district attorney and handled the Linda Lee Daniels case."

Schwartz said he had been aware that someone was shopping around the supposedly salacious stuff and that it began about the time he made the short list for the judgeship.

Schwartz suspects the culprit is someone with an ax to grind — which could be anyone.

"What I've done in my career — I didn't always make friends," he said. "I don't know who's doing it, and I don't particularly care."

So there. Candor restored.

The other finalists in contention for the bench, by the way, are state Elections Director Daniel Ivey-Soto, who might best be remembered as the attorney who represented the irascible Metro Court Judge Barbara Brown in her infamous rock-throwing incident; and Robin Hammer, a hard-working Albuquerque prosecutor from the economic crimes division who probably deserves the judgeship if only because she isn't already prowling the halls of upper state government.

But I'd like to see Schwartz in those black robes just for the comic relief, the great quotes from the bench, the entertaining judicial orders and, yes, the honest way he needs to do things differently.

Maybe then we wouldn't need cleavers.