Todd Diederich announces he is running for
80th District Judge for Clare and Gladwin County Michigan.
Published in Clare County Cleaver
on January 24, 2008
By JJ Jackson
Todd Diederich, of Harrison, has announced he is
running for 80th District Court Judge, which covers Clare and Gladwin counties. As a family man, military veteran, partner in a local law firm and someone involved in numerous community activities, he feels his life experience will provide him with many skills to bring to the judgeship.
As someone with a family I know what it’s like for people to be concerned about their
family’s well being. I have an understanding of what it feels like to a family when someone violates the sanctity of their home, I also have a firm understanding for the concerns of parents whose kids are caught getting in trouble, Diederich said. There are two sides to every story and it all has to be taken into consideration. I think every case needs individual attention (and) judges have to look at each person individually. I
have the reasonableness and patience to listen to people.
Along with being a partner in a law firm, Diederich is also a landlord and he said that experience will help him understand landlord/tenant cases, which come before the District Court.
As a general practice law firm, which is what we are, I have seen everything that could
possibly come before the District Court - all the landlord/tenant actions, mortgage foreclosures, land contract foreclosures, business civil matters and criminal defense from A-Z, we’ve done it all here, he said.
He spent four years in the military with the U.S. Navy as a cryptologist and received several medals and commendations before attending college, and he said this helped
instill in him an ethic of hard work that will transition well to being a judge. He said it’s normal for him to put in 10 to 14-hour workdays.
The day is done when the work is done, he said. I am someone who comes from a background of hard work, so when someone says, “I can’t,” it brings laughter to my face because I don’t believe in “I can’t”. I only believe in yes, you can, it just means you
have to try harder, you have to try again; it means you can’t give up on yourself. I don’t think everybody has that innately put in them, I think you have to learn that, you have to prove to yourself that you can accomplish things and once you accomplish some goals, the momentum gets going. You have to have a positive attitude.
Something he thinks would help the general public in the community is to have more
mentoring programs in the area and they would help people be more successful and also avoid the court system.
I think it is important for the successful members in our community to reach out to younger people, he said. There are many successful people in (Clare and Gladwin counties), and if they’re willing to share some of their time with younger people, I think
they can make a difference, I think they can influence younger people to want to do the right things
Being a judge will offer him more of a chance to work with local governments and local community-based organizations to implement these programs, and also put him in a position to have the chance to get people who come through the District Court into these programs.
It’s one thing to say, I am an attorney and I want to talk to you about these programs, and another in saying, now I am in a position to say these programs are available and you’re going to go to that program, he said.
He said most community programs are privately-funded and he would like to see more
government-funded programs but he understands that the resources are not there to do that.
The bottom line is, everyone has to be held accountable for their actions, he said. In part, being held accountable means that if you do something wrong, there’s going to be consequences. So, if you don’t want the consequences, don’t do that wrong thing.
Diederich has obtained five college degrees, including two from Mid Michigan Community College, a double-major from Central Michigan University in Political Science and Biology and a law degree from Michigan State University. One of his degrees is a Corrections degree from MMCC and he said his knowledge of the American criminal justice system and its philosophies will help him to better decide cases.
He said when it comes to sentencing a criminal defendant, there are three basic
concerns: punishment of the offender, restitution to the victims and rehabilitation of the offender. There are also the concepts of specific and general deterrents to crime.
An example of a specific deterrent would be, if I take you, the offender, and I put you in jail, then I know that you are no longer committing crimes in our community and I have
specifically deterred you from committing further crimes, he said. And others around you, members of our society, know what you did, know you’re being penalized, know what the punishment is, and hopefully that has deterred them from entering into the same type of illegal activity “that would be an example of a general deterrent”.
He believes in expanding community service programs to have criminals give back to
the community.
There are people that still need to be taught that helping out the community is for the betterment of all, he said. Once a person realizes that we are all in this together, and that they would not want bad things to happen to them, so they should not be going out and doing bad things to others, we will all be better off. Giving back to the community
through community service programs is one way to help people learn that philosophy.
Another area that he would like to explore is looking into new technology that would help the court run more efficiently and effectively. An example of technology he would like to explore is video-conferencing systems that would provide more safety and save money by not having to transport inmates, if possible.
Diederich, who speaks fluent Italian and some Spanish, said he has always been
involved in community affairs, from being in several organizations that participate in community service programs, to being on the Board of Directors for the Harrison Chamber of Commerce for the last four years.
When asked what he thinks a judge can’t be, he said a judge can’t be impatient or intolerant of two sides of a story and can’t be rude or impolite.
I think it is important that people treat the court system with respect and I think it is important that the court system treat people with respect, he said. With that said, if we’re going to be community leaders we have to lead by example. The rules apply to everybody.
He said he loves the law and he is always researching and looking for ways to
enhance his knowledge and practice of law.
The law is changing all the time, he said. As a judge, if I see that a law is not working I think we have a louder voice to reach out to the legislature and say, this is the effect that I’ve seen from this law that you’ve created and maybe if you tweaked it a little bit, it would help resolve that issue with the law.
He believes that not only judges, but the general public, have the right to voice their concerns to lawmakers.
Absolutely, that’s what a democracy is all about, he said. I’m all about people standing up and gathering ideas and presenting their concerns and grievances to their
government. I fully, 100 percent believe in a government by the people, for the people, no ifs, ands or buts about it I believe it is important that the government listens to the people.
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Donald (Todd) Diederich for 80th District Court Judge
P O Box 671 ~ Harrison, MI 48625
