‘Because God is Sovereign, all of life is touched with truth and a song,” says Garner
By L.A. Williams, Correspondent
Christian Action League
WAKE FOREST — A homeschooling father of 11, Daniel Garner hopes voters do their homework before heading to the polls, especially when it comes to the instant runoff election for N.C. Court of Appeals Seat 5, where he is among the 13 choices.
“When voters select a Congressman, they get a ‘do-over’ in two years. Not so with these judge slots,” he said pointing to the eight-year terms. “These races deserve attention and care and homework and knowledgeable ballot-casting.”
To that end, he’s posted extensive voter information on his Web site, www.garnerforjudge.com, where voters can also see his judicial philosophy, one that calls for restraint and humility, and details about his 28-year legal career, which he describes as “not very public nor glorious” but “great preparation for the Court of Appeals” nonetheless.
A lifelong resident of the Tar Heel state, Garner earned degrees in law and business from the University of North Carolina. He worked nine years in a varied private practice including property, business, litigation and some securities work. He then spent eight years as an unemployment hearings judge where he ruled on more than 6,000 cases. For the past 11 years, he has served as counsel to the N.C. Commissioner of Banks.
“My experience with different branches of government is, I think, distinguishing. I know the difference between what judges and legislators do because I’ve actually drafted legislation and worked for its enactment. I’ve had experience as an unemployment hearings judge, doing employment law, and I’ve worked in the complex area of financial institution regulation and banking law,” he said. “My experience in administrative law, I think, would help broaden the Court of Appeals.”
Garner said each post helped him learn different things and develop different tools.
“At the ESC, I learned to listen … to give each litigant an attentive, impartial hearing. As counsel to the Commissioner, I’ve been called on to draft legislation, make regulations, preside over hearings, manage litigation, interpret and apply federal and state law for regulators, bankers and consumers,” he said.
As an ESC appeals referee Garner admitted he didn’t always like the outcome of the case as he applied the law to the evidence, but he said he concluded long ago that an honest judge “must decide each case in accordance with the law and the evidence rather than bend the law or the evidence to reach a particular result.”
“Judicial restraint serves the cause of justice longer and more ably than judicial activism (right or left),” he said.
A self-described “orthodox Christian,” Garner believes that, “because God is Sovereign, all of life is touched with truth and a song.”
“Careful Christians are able to be realistic about the fallen, broken world around them, but they are also able to be optimistic when they contemplate their Creator and their Redeemer,” he said. “Orthodox Christians are committed to the Truth.”
Garner and his family attend Sovereign Grace Church in Apex. He and his wife, Cheryl, have homeschooled their children, ages 14 to 30, including seven college graduates so far. Four of their children are married, and they have 12 grandchildren.
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To find out more about Daniel Garner, log on to www.garnerforjudge.com.