Candidate for
Judge of the Superior Court; County of Fresno; Office No. 16

Though born at Fort Benning, Georgia, during WWII, I grew up in Fresno and attended schools here. As a very young man, I joined the Army National Guard and served in the Watts riots in 1965. I worked at the Coca-Cola bottling plant on R Street in Fresno. I married Midge and we started a family. I enjoyed many interesting friends, the life of a working man, family life, and knocking around the lakes and streams of the Sierra. But, the Cold War was on and able-bodied American youth were in the field. I could not let that go. In 1968 I volunteered.
My son Sean was born while I was a platoon leader in Vietnam with the 4th Infantry Division operating near Pleiku. I met him for the first time during R&R in Hawaii.
After the Army I came home to attend Fresno State, transferred to USC (so I could go to the Rose Bowl) where I got my undergraduate degree in History. I did my Law School at UOP's McGeorge in Sacramento. While in law school, Sean was hit by a car and suffered majoy brain injury, but he survived. His mother and older brother Mark were hero's during this very tough time.
Admitted to the bar in 1980, I worked in Woodland in a civil firm and part-time as a compliance officer for the State Department of Education, Office of Special Education until Mark finished High School in 1982. Then I brought my family home to Fresno.
Hired by Dale Blickenstaff in the DA's office, I prosecuted misdemeanors, juvenile cases, white collar cases in the business affairs unit, and felony cases. I put on 24 jury trials.
I left the DA's office in 1987. I assisted my father Ray Barrett in his law practice until illness caused him to retire. I liked the courtroom. I joined the staff of the Public Defender in 1989. It is by far the most demanding thing that I have ever done. There is more to do there than anywhere, and no one is on your side. It is, I am convinced, character building or breaking. I have been there ever since.
Midge and I have been happily married for 38 years now. We both miss Cappie and Ray very much, but our son Mark has given us two fine grandsons (Travis and James) and is a deacon in the church like his dad. Sean is my sidekick and closest pal. Midge is everything to us all.
I have been up and down. I have known love, seen hate, lived the strife of peace and war, read much, thought deeply, lived with anguish and, whatever else, am not superficial.
Here is the bottom line, dear voter. If you want ego and boast, look elsewhere. If you respond favorably to a judge concerned primarily with his car or his golf game, I am not for you. But, if you want a little depth and diligence, then you and I may be on the same wavelength.