“Why become a judge?”
In May 2023, I completed my first application to become a judge. As part of that lengthy application (which can be read in its entirety here), I wrote an essay in response to the prompt “Statement Explaining Why I Am Seeking This Position.” Though my audience for that essay was the governor of Arizona and her staff, I believe what I wrote then well-articulates the reasoning behind my aspiration to this position. I believe everyone has a story if you’ll stop long enough to listen. To understand my “why,” you need to understand my story. My essay for that prompt is available below.
“Who am I to be applying for this?”
These words play in my head even as I type this essay. But after a lifetime of self-reflection and critique, I can state with conviction and humility that I am called, and qualified, to be a superior court judge.
I started law school over twenty years ago with the strong sense that I was made for the world of law. The last sixteen years of work as a prosecutor have confirmed that sense of calling. My ability to organize and plan ahead, my desire to see people and treat them with respect, and my commitment to the highest ethics come together when I show up at work every day.
When I started as a prosecutor, I had no idea that I would spend the next sixteen years in a courtroom. My time as a prosecutor has taught me an immense amount about being human and seeing the humanity in people. Despite the crime committed, I know that there is humanity in every person, even if it is hard to see.
I have also come to realize the life-altering power of my words. If I use my words in the wrong way, I can break and destroy people. However, I can also use my words to be firm, while not ignoring the fact that there is a human on the other side of the aisle. I want to be a judge to continue and expand that kind of impact through my words and actions. My words will be true and right, but they will not be demeaning or dehumanizing.
“Always tell the truth. Always do the right thing. No matter what.” That might seem like no- brainer advice. Nevertheless, those words from my supervisor for Charging and Grand Jury have stuck with me. The only way to practice his advice is to understand that there are humans behind every case and every case number. There are humans on both sides of the aisle and humans on both sides of the gallery. Failing to see the humanity in every person is detrimental to me as a person and to the people around me.
In 2011, my husband and I traveled to Northrise University in Ndola, Zambia. I taught a class in the Ndola community on domestic violence and child abuse, which was my specialization at work at the time. I went there with the attitude that I had something they needed. I left, however, understanding that my knowledge is useless to them if it is not helpful in improving their community through them. My ideas of what I “knew” they should do was radically changed as I listened to them talk about the information and apply it to their communities and cultures in a way I could not have done. As I have prepared this application, that experience has been in the forefront of my mind. Serving begins with listening and understanding before it moves into decisions and actions.
In 2017, I moved from handling adult cases to taking on juvenile cases full-time. This is where I saw that even while being firm, words of hope can have an incredible impact. In an environment where many of the juveniles have parents who have struggled to parent, I have been able to address a child and call them to more. Through what I’ve termed my “disappointed mother lecture,” I call out the positive and potential I see in a child, while also showing them the destructiveness of their current path and the necessary consequences for their past actions.
At every turn in my career, I have had opportunities to learn and grow. Some of those opportunities I have chosen myself. More often than not, though, I have been thrust into an opportunity unexpectedly. For a long time, I just wanted to prove to everyone (including myself) that I could do whatever I set my mind to and I had what it takes. But as I grew and learned from new and challenging experiences, I realized I did not have to prove who I am to anyone. I can take on a new challenge (like being a judge) because I am competent and I love to learn new things.
My variety of life experiences in rural Western New York and around the world have prepared me to be a judge. A variety of life-lessons and hard-earned wisdom have prepared me to be a judge who practices discernment and courage. I know how to adapt, and I have a teachable spirit. In the twenty plus years since I started law school, I have evolved from wanting to prove myself to realizing I want to take steps to help make the world a better place.
I no longer see this appointment as another opportunity to prove myself. Becoming a judge is part of my bigger vision to practice compassion, show humanity, and make my corner of the world a better place by seeking justice and loving mercy.
If appointed, I will bring a few core values with me to the bench every day. I will embody fairness, doing the right thing even when it is the hard thing. I will practice unyielding integrity through actions that are marked by consistency and humility. Each person who steps into my courtroom will have their humanity honored through kindness, respect, and dignity. When things get tense and emotions run high, I will remain calm and firm, remaining in control of myself first and foremost in an emotionally-charged environment. Finally, I will establish a healthy culture built upon trust, empowering my staff to do their jobs and upholding the faith of our community as public servants.
If my grandparents were still alive, my grandfather would look forward to adding to his map the location of a courtroom where I was presiding. My grandmother would write me a letter asking about what I was learning and how I was growing as I served others.
I look forward to the continued opportunity to serve the people who call my community “home” and to steward the experience, wisdom, and opportunities that have been so kindly offered to me thus far–all of which will make me a good judge.
-Danalyn Savage, May 2023