Deborah Bell Paseur
From Judgepedia
Deborah Bell Paseur is currently running for Harold See's seat on the Alabama Supreme Court.
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Legal Education and Experience
Deborah Bell Paseur went to college at the University of Alabama and graduated with a degree in Social Work, and earned her J.D. from the University Of Alabama School Of Law. She later earned a Master's Degree in Criminal Justice.[1]
Paseur became the first woman judge in Lauderdale County history.
Associations and Awards
Deborah Bell Paseur is a founding member of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters chapter and the Safeplace domestic violence shelter program in her community. She founded the Shoals Alternative Network, Inc. to create community awareness of the affects of drug addiction. She also helped start a Drug Court to save lives and save the taxpayers from financing jail time for addicts destined to repeat their crimes. When she was a juvenile judge, Deborah established a truancy program to bring parents and children into the court before it was too late for a child to graduate. She knows how critical the early years of development are in establishing good habits. She is also a supporter of the Girls State program and the Children First Foundation from its inception.
Paseur has been active in many other civic endeavors. For more than twenty years, she's been a member of the Shoals Area Chamber of Commerce and has served on the Board of Directors. She is a member of Class XI of Leadership Alabama. She is currently president-elect of the Florence Rotary Club. She was elected Young Careerist of the Year of the Business and Professional Women's Club, received the Outstanding Young Woman Award of the Alabama State Jaycees, In addition, she has served on the Retired Senior Volunteer Advisory Board for more than twenty years and is currently president-elect of the Florence Rotary Club. Perhaps her strongest devotion has been serving Alabama's veterans. With a father, brother, and husband who served in our military, Deborah has been and still remains a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, holding every local and district office over the last twenty-five years. With her passionate commitment to good citizenship, Americanism and patriotism, and to passing those values on to our young people, Deborah recruited junior high and high school students to collect donations for veterans for more than twenty years.
Deborah maintains her ties to the men and women who serve in the police department, having served on the Citizens' Advisory Board of the Florence, Alabama police department. As a Member of the Children's Code Committee of the Alabama Law Institute, she helped complete a top-to-bottom revision of the laws governing the adoption of children.[2]
Political Affiliation
Democrat
Campaign Contributions
Thus far in the campaign, Deborah Bell Paseur has raised $0 for her 2008 campaign.[3]
In the News: Articles
Paseur says jail not always answer in war on drugs (October 17, 2006)
The state is losing the war on drugs, and stiffer penalties are not the answer, according to a candidate for the state Court of Criminal Appeals. Democrat Deborah Bell Paseur, a district judge in Lauderdale County, helps run the drug court there. The effort, which uses innovative approaches to try to help defendants get off drugs without sitting in jail, is a step in the right direction, she said. "The goal is to help these people get good recoveries and become good citizens," Paseur said in a recent editorial board meeting at THE DAILY. "People not trained in the drug-court philosophy don't understand it." Not only are prisons full, Paseur said, they are not always the best answer. "We don't do enough treatment in prisons," Paseur said. "We don't have enough transition programs. You can't expect people to do a lot better without those." She said community corrections programs are the best solution for many nonviolent offenders. Sending people away from the community to prison often means they come back to the community as hardened criminals. "Trial judges have to carefully decide who goes to the limited prison cells we have," Paseur said. "We need to ask, 'Does this particular offender need to be in jail?' People should be given the least restrictive punishment that will work." That said, the punishment must meet the goals of the criminal justice system: rehabilitation, punishment, retribution and restitution. "Those goals are not met," Paseur said, "if a judge is too lenient. ... Our No. 1 job is protection of society."
Paseur said she does not impose her religious beliefs on offenders, but her faith constantly guides her in her duties. She is a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Florence and is active in the Emmaus Walk program. "Every human life is sacred and valuable. Every person is one of God's children," she said. "No one should strip them of their dignity. I've had people say I saved their lives," she said. "That's a humbling experience, that God has used me for that. ... I believe in miracles. Once in awhile we have one."[4]
