Attorney Edwards a candidate for Sutter County Superior Court

When he is thinking about legal figures he admires, Yuba City attorney John Edwards goes way back — all the way to the beginning of the U.S. court system, with influential Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall.

"He is of an era when the court system in this country was being developed," said Edwards, 67. "What he did was establish the basis of the court system we know today."

Edwards is one of nine candidates hoping to take on a new role in the court system, as Department 2 judge in Sutter County Superior Court.

After considering a run for the bench in the past, he said, he decided to jump in when Judge H. Ted Hansen announced his retirement last year. As an attorney in private practice for more than 35 years, Edwards said, he has experienced both a wide variety of cases and judges.

If elected to the bench, his approach would be humble and full of thought on how to best represent an important post, he said.

"Being a judge is a very humbling position," Edwards said. "As far as I'm concerned, courtrooms are the backbone of society, and we've got to take care of them."

People who would come before him as a judge should expect a deep respect for both the dignity of the bench and the participants in a case, Edwards said. The judge, whoever he or she is, should remember the law first.

"A judge has to remember it's not all about him or her," Edwards said. "What they're doing is very important. But they should not view it as a private domain."

After growing up in Sutter County, Edwards graduated from U.C. Davis and Lincoln Law School in Sacramento before being admitted to the bar in 1976.

He opened his private practice that year, but his interest in the law dated back to stories he had heard from his father, a minister.

When his father helped his uncle move to Yuba County during the Great Depression, he ran afoul of a law at the time barring such immigration, known as the anti-Okie law.

His father challenged the law and ultimately went before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled the law unconstitutional.

With his own legal experience, John Edwards said, he would bring strong characteristics to the position.

"I know what it takes to be a good judge," he said.

The position pays $168,274.58 a year.

CONTACT Ben van der Meer at bvandermeer@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4786. Find him on Facebook at /ADbvandermeer or on Twitter at @ADbvandermeer.