What Michael Stands For

Politicians at every level have spent years telling you what they “stand for.” Then, you’ve seen what they actually do. If you’re looking at this page, you probably have some questions about whether what a political candidate says means anything at all.

Fair enough. Here’s where Michael actually stands — not as talking points, but as convictions he has taught, argued, and lived.

The Whole Constitution — Not Just the Convenient Parts

Michael doesn’t just teach the Bill of Rights in the classroom. He has argued it in courtrooms, defended it for clients who couldn’t afford to hire anyone else, and stood up for it even when it cost him something. He’s built his professional career around the principle that constitutional rights mean something regardless of who is asking for them.

Michael is a strong believer in the Second Amendment. He is also a strong believer in the First, the Fourth, the Fifth, and the rest of them. If elected to the bench, he will protect those rights — all of them, for everyone, without exception.

The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms. A judge’s job is to apply the Constitution as written, and that means protecting gun rights the same way it means protecting every other right, regardless of who’s asking or what the political climate says.

The First Amendment protects free speech and a free press. Not just speech that’s popular. Not just press that’s friendly to whoever’s in power. Michael has watched politicians on both sides try to silence voices they find inconvenient, and a judge who takes an oath to uphold the Constitution doesn’t get to carve out exceptions based on who’s talking.

The Fourth and Fifth Amendments protect a space that government simply is not allowed to enter: your home, your property, your family, your freedom. The government cannot search without cause, cannot seize without due process, cannot take your children without following the law. That space belongs to you. Michael has spent his career making sure it stays that way, for clients who were unpopular, in cases that were inconvenient. It will stay that way when he is on the bench.

Local People Should Run Local Government

The principle of local control used to be uncontroversial: communities know their own needs better than Washington does. Local decisions should be made by local people who actually live here, pay taxes here, and answer to their neighbors.

That principle doesn’t change depending on who’s in power in D.C. Michael believes Licking County should run its own courthouse, its own schools, and its own affairs, without the federal government substituting its judgment for ours. He hasn’t backed down to powerful people before when it mattered, and he won’t back down as juvenile court judge. Not when the federal government leans left. Not when it leans right. Not ever.

The people of Licking County are capable of governing themselves. A judge who serves this community should trust them to do exactly that.

Licking County Juvenile/Probate Court — A Court That Actually Works

Michael has spent years in Licking County Juvenile Court. He has represented children charged with serious offenses, stood beside families in dependency and neglect proceedings, and served as a guardian ad litem for children who had no one else speaking for them. He knows what this court looks like when it’s working, and he knows what it looks like when it isn’t.

His priorities for the court are straightforward: decisions made on the best interests of children and families, not on bureaucratic convenience or budget considerations; a diversion process that keeps first-time and low-level juvenile offenders out of the formal system when the research and the circumstances support it; and a court that is accessible and efficient for the families who have no choice but to be there.

Michael is currently meeting with former court staff, probation officers, caseworkers, and attorneys who have spent years working in and around this court, sharpening these ideas into more specific proposals. Those conversations extend to the probate side as well, where Michael is actively engaging probate attorneys and practitioners. Probate Court handles some of the most consequential moments in a person’s life: the death of a spouse, the administration of an estate, the care of an aging parent, a guardianship, a name change, a birth record. Those matters deserve the same attention and care as the juvenile docket.

It’s Time for Something Different

Every election cycle, a slate card shows up telling you who to vote for. The argument is always the same: things are going well, stay the course, trust the team.

Look around. Is that argument working for you? How would you say the “team” is doing?

Michael won’t be on that slate card because he isn’t running as part of the county’s political establishment. For a long time, one party has controlled virtually every lever of government that touches your life: your city, your county, your statehouse, your congressman, your president. Look at your life. Look at your community. If you think that’s working, the slate card has your answer. If you think it’s time for something different, then Michael is offering a courthouse that serves the people of this county. Not a slate card. Not a party. You.