Fairness is key for John Mercer, Beaverton Municipal Court presiding judge

By Ed Johnson

The Beaverton Valley Times, Sep 3, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jaime Valdez / The Beaverton Valley Times

Presiding Judge John Mercer walks toward his seat behind the bench at Beaverton Municipal Court.

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As a judge at the Beaverton Municipal Court, John Mercer has heard just about every excuse in the book from drivers that were speeding, including some that push the limits of credulity.

One time, a man admitted his guilt, and then approached Mercer’s bench to offer an explanation with an open box of Nike cross trainers.

“He told me: ‘I just put these on, and my feet were just so excited and happy that they just kept pushing down on the gas pedal,’” Mercer says of the incident, laughing. “And I think to some extent he was being genuine. It was something new to him that distracted him and made him go faster.”

It’s the second part that seems important to Mercer’s job. He is a man who is concerned with fairness. In conversation, again and again, it’s a word that he uses with earnest respect.

It’s a necessary belief of his job as presiding judge of the Beaverton Municipal Court.

Mercer, 58, has a friendly demeanor that belies the stress that must come with being head of a busy courtroom, which mostly oversees the judicial process of misdemeanor crimes and traffic violations. He’s been in his current position since January, but has served as an associate judge in Beaverton for more than 12 years.

He says that while the scope of the crimes in his court may be minor – it’s generally people arguing against a traffic violation – he still strives to maintain a refined, and above all else, fair atmosphere.

“I think of each person coming forward as a story, as something that’s really meaningful for them,” Mercer says. “And so even though they may be the same type of case that I’ve heard 50 times that same day, there’s always something personal, specific and unique about what brings them here.”

Experience matters

Mercer hasn’t always been a judge, of course. After graduating from Lewis and Clark College law school (and the University of Oregon before that) he went into private practice and then became a prosecutor for Yamhill County, where he served for 17 years. In 1997, he left his job as a prosecutor to go back into practice – and to start serving as a judge in Newberg and Beaverton.

Mercer says that part of the reason he was hired back then was the inception of red-light cameras in Beaverton, which created a lot more volume for the court.

His new position as presiding judge stems from the need for more administrative oversight at the court, especially with issues involving the transition from paper-based documents to an electronic case management system.

“There’s a lot of things that can just naturally take care of themselves,” he says of his duties at the court. “But there’s also a lot things that need attention for a presiding judge to specifically have authority over. Life changes. The courts have become more complicated.”

City Prosecutor Tim Kempton has argued cases in front of Mercer during the entirety of his tenure as a judge in Beaverton. He’s had decisions come in both for, and against, his cases. He says that Mercer’s proven himself an asset to Beaverton.

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