Judge Candidate Ready

 

One difficulty that is apparent with candidates running for an open seat on the superior court is that they cannot answer questions that may become subject matter before their court.

For this reason the questions posed to Kevin Ready had more to do with the philosophy of justice, the American court and political system, the interpretations of the constitution, and his broad experience with the judicial system.

Ready, 55, was born in Iowa but grew up in Colorado. After graduation from high school, Ready tried a semester of college at the University of Colorado but chose instead to forgo his student deferment and joined the U.S. Army at the height of the Vietnam War.

As Ready was fluent in Russian, which he studied for six years in junior and senior high school, the Army assigned him to intelligence duties. Receiving further language training in Arabic from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Ready was later assigned to the National Security Agency during the Yom Kippur War, receiving an Army Commendation Medal for his service.

 

Finishing law school at the University of Denver, Ready then served a legal internship with the United States Attorney’s office handling enforcement cases in mine and workplace safety.

Ready was not finished serving the U.S. military, so he enlisted in the U.S. Navy — not as an attorney for the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps, but as a surface warfare officer. His Navy service in the Persian Gulf during the Iranian hostage crisis and off the coast of Vietnam helping to rescue “boat people” earned Ready more decorations. Ready was later assigned to the JAG office, but accepted a rare interservice transfer back to the Army and its JAG corps.

During his second Army tour, Ready’s duties included assignment as legal advisor to the Army’s Nuclear Weapons Response team, and as an administrative law judge. During this time, Ready was given a dual commission as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Justice Department, where he served as a prosecutor with the U.S. District Court in Illinois.

 

In 1987, Ready accepted a position with the County of Santa Barbara as the petroleum administrator. Ready currently serves as a senior attorney with the county.

In discussing his qualifications to serve as a judge, Ready said that his experience well qualified him for this vacated seat on the bench. Noting that he has handled hundreds of civil as well as criminal cases, Ready said, “My opponent (John MacKinnon) has good experience as a prosecutor”, but added that the bench seat they are vying for will handle mostly civil matters.

“There is a profound difference in experience between me and Mr. MacKinnon…he has significantly less experience in civil matters,” Ready said.

Ready said that the candidate elected to the bench “will be a person who will be making some lastingly important decisions that will affect your lives…One trial judge can overrule a city council, the county, the county association of governments…you should get someone with the most experience.”