Cass County District Judicial Candidate David Chapman: "I'm not one who wants to make it up as I go along... I [will] enforce the law as it's written"

Courtesy: DJ Chapman Law
Courtesy: DJ Chapman Law

(Cass County, ND) -- An area attorney is sharing why he is looking to become a Cass County Judge in the upcoming November General Election.

David Chapman spoke with WDAY Radio about his candidacy to become a Judge in the East Central District Court #4. Chapman spoke about his prior experience as an attorney, why he is running again, and what would be his judicial philosophy if elected to the position.

"I started attending Law School in 1992 in Grand Forks in UND, and that is where I graduated in '95," said Chapman.

The candidate says he would make decisions from the bench based on how the law is written by the state legislature, not how he wants to interpret it. Chapman describes his liking of the "Originalist" philosophy of judging, which interprets the constitution based how it was written on how the text was understood "at the time it was adopted."

"It was the culmination of the development of my philosophy in terms of the law, attending law school," said Chapman, describing where he learned about the Originalist philosophy, "I used to sit in the University of Manitoba's Law School Library and read some of the Supreme Court opinions by [former Supreme Court Judge] Scalia, and at that time the Originalist philosophy was coming forward in terms of interpreting the constitution, and that's what really pushed me to go to law school was my interest in not only American law, but also American history as well."

David Chapman is running to become a Cass County District Judge in the upcoming November General Election. You can learn more about voting in North Dakota by clicking here

 

Original Air Date: 
Tuesday, October 25, 2022