Your Opinion: Are voters getting "the whole truth?'

Dear Editor:

I am fascinated by the pieces of paper which keep arriving in my mailbox. The subject matter concerns an upcoming judge's race on election day.

The results of legal decisions are featured. The judge is said to have sided with this side or with that side.

Where are the points of law? What is the language of the statute? What legal precedents are involved?

Judges rule on the law. They base their decisions upon what the Legislature and the governor have written into Missouri law. They base their decision upon what higher courts have decided.

A judge might have a personal opinion on a specific issue. Statutory law and case law may point in a different direction.

"The whole truth and nothing but the truth" is what witnesses must swear in a court of law.

I ask the News Tribune readers a simple question. Is the information which you are receiving in your mailbox the "whole truth."