State Supreme Court Candidate Runs On Religious Platform

[Brown]

From KARE11 and the AP:

Tim Tingelstad has made his faith the cornerstone of his campaign for the state Supreme Court....

Tingelstad is a devout Christian who believes government would benefit from the influence of biblical principles. He is against abortion, quotes the Bible in his campaign literature and favors using state dollars for religiously based schools.
...
"My decision to seek election to the Minnesota Supreme Court is an act of obedience to the word and spirit of God."

Tingelstad is running against Justice Alan Page, a former star football player for the Minnesota Vikings, who has been on the Minnesota Supreme Court for a dozen years. It is unlikely that Tingelstad will unseat Page.

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court said that candidates for judicial office could offer views on disputed legal or political issues, despite a judical canon to the contrary. In effect, a candidate is entitled to describe to the voting public his or her attitude toward cases that might come before the court, even though the cases have not been heard.

It is not clear from the report whether Tingelstad is suggesting that he will be likely to be voting in certain ways on certain issues. His campaign literature includes bible quotes, but in response to a reporter's question, he says that judicial decisions must be based upon law rather than his "world view": "But when it comes to deciding on a case, I have to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this land. Any decision I would make would be based on those things—not my world view."

 

[daenku32]

It worries me when canditates pander to specific religious groups.
It worries me more when they are serious about it.
I hope it's just the lesser.

I would like to ask him how he would deal with cases when it's up to the Judge to decide the exact details of the punishment. Whether to give the minimum or the maximum punishment.