Amos Is the Best Choice

Making an intelligent decision in a judicial race is a difficult proposition for most voters, but the current race for a single Superior Court seat at least features two candidates who would make excellent judges.

S. Charles Wickersham is a 20-year veteran of the San Diego County district attorney’s office who admits that he was propelled into the race by the publicity surrounding his successful prosecution of former San Diego Mayor Roger Hedgecock. Under intense pressure and public scrutiny in the Hedgecock case, Wickersham showed himself to be a man of moderate temperament with a good legal mind.

Although nearly all his career has been spent as a prosecutor, Wickersham believes his experience with white- collar criminal cases would serve him well in handling civil cases from the bench. He was rated “qualified” by the San Diego County Bar Assn.

E. Mac Amos Jr. has spent the last four years as a Municipal Court judge, having been appointed by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. and then elected to a full term. Before going on the bench, Amos was a lawyer with a civil practice and before that served as an assistant U.S. attorney. He has been rated “well-qualified” by the bar association.

Amos’ assignments in Municipal Court have required him to handle various types of cases, and he is said by those who know him to be knowledgeable about the law and to have a good demeanor for a judge.

A third candidate, attorney Thomas R. Waddell, has not waged a serious campaign.

Amos and Wickersham are the kinds of candidates who should be running for important posts such as the Superior Court. Either would make a fine addition to the local bench. But Amos seems the better candidate of the two, considering his broader background and the favorable marks he gets for his work on the Municipal Court.