Endorsement from This Webmaster - A Personal Perspective 

- By Bill Miller -

Judge Donna Miller has always been "Donna" to me.  I see her every day and I know how much she LOVES her job - being your Lake County Judge, from Group 2.  She works hard, but never gets tired of it.  It doesn't matter if she needs to stay late on a week night to finish a trial (so the jury doesn't need to come back another day), to do paperwork on a weekend (to stay caught up), or if a deputy calls at 2 a.m. needing a Judge to sign a search warrant -- she gives 100% effort to every aspect of her job.

You may have heard a little about some "unusual rulings" that she's given.  I'd like to clarify two stories that made one news outlet or another, and share a recent story which you probably haven't heard.  The Orlando Sentinel endorsed Donna saying her "creativity and knowledge earn her another term as county judge" and here's what they were talking about:

"The 12 ¢ bond."  A gentleman with mild mental health issues (they weren't severe enough for Lifestream to take him, but he wouldn't leave Lifestream and was arrested for trespassing) was released by another Judge on his own recognizance (free to get out of jail with no bond, which was appropriate).  But the gentleman didn't leave the jail.  Instead, even though he was released, he slept in the lobby of the jail.  He was arrested again, I think for the same offense, and he was brought before Donna on the new charge.  Jail officials, obviously, didn't want him sleeping in their lobby again (they made her aware of this).  So she decided to empower him with two choices: 1) stay in jail, or 2) bond yourself out, with whatever money you have, and LEAVE the jail.  He wanted to bond out of jail but only had 12 cents on him.  Donna set his bond at 12 cents, he bonded out, and did NOT sleep in the lobby of the jail that night.

"Ordered to jog."  One young lady was repeating a negative pattern of behavior and found herself before Judge Miller.  Donna felt she simply needed to regain some self confidence and to stop repeating the negative behavior.  So Donna ordered her to "jog a little every day, until you're running two miles a day - and have permanently stopped the negative behavior."  Part of her logic was that exercise releases endorphins, and endorphins make you feel good.  Anyway, after a while, Donna received a letter from the young lady's sister who wrote: "Dear Judge Miller, my sister has been doing exactly what you ordered and is now running two miles a day.  More importantly, she stopped repeating the negative behavior and has straightened her life out.  Thank you for giving me my sister back."

Those are true stories, which I paraphrased, as Donna shared with me (they were closed cases and no names were used).  And here's a third story, which never made the news, but further illustrates why her experience & knowledge of the community (which several endorsements have touted - see her website link below) make her STILL the best candidate for the job...

A young black teenager was cited for being out after curfew.  When before Judge Miller, his reason was "I was just walking to my cousin's to borrow some sugar."  Donna has heard some interesting excuses (and many obvious lies) but, true or not, he didn't need to be out that late, and breaking the curfew ordinance.  He was a polite young man and maybe just needed some direction in his life, something more constructive than paying a fine.  So she said she would drop the charge, if "your next report card is good, and if you meet Col. King at the First Baptist Church in Leesburg on such & such a day."  Col. King is a well respected black gentleman who was running for Sheriff, so Donna thought he might serve as a mentor for the young man, and knew the retired Colonel would be at the church's "meet the candidates" night (as would Donna:).  The young man showed up and he & Col. King hit it off.  As an added bonus, the people at First Baptist were so welcoming of the young man, that he decided to join the church!  He came over and told Judge Miller this, and said "you're the best judge ever -- but I gotta say one more thing... I REALLY was just going over to borrow some sugar!"

So there you go - THAT'S the Judge Miller I know!  :-)

Sincerely,

Bill Miller, her stepson, and designer of: JudgeDonnaMiller.com