HONOR, COURAGE, COMMITMENT
I believe there is a higher purpose found in serving something greater than yourself. Whether it is putting on a uniform, taking care of your family, or answering a summons for jury duty, true service is about stepping up when your community needs you. Service is not a campaign slogan—it is how I’ve chosen to live my life and why I am running for circuit court judge.
My commitment to service began long before I ever entered a courtroom. In 1995 I stood on the famed yellow footprints at Marine Corps Recruit Depot just like my father did decades earlier. I served as an electronic intelligence analyst and deployed to the Middle East with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the USS Tarawa during Operation Safe Departure.
The Marine Corps instilled in me the core virtues that still guide my life today: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. I hear these virtues in my mind every time I walk into the courtroom. We refer to the judge as “your honor”. We do this to remind each and every lawyer that comes before the court that we must conduct ourselves honorably, with integrity in everything that we do. We do this to remind ourselves in every case we are serving something greater than ourselves.
Honor requires courage. Judges are called to make difficult decisions based on the law and the evidence. I’ve made difficult decisions my entire life. Leaving home at 19 to serve take a healthy combination of the foolishness of youth and courage to walk into the unknown. Every lesson learned gave me more experience. Preparing a briefing for higher command gave me the experience to put a jury trial together. Briefing my team gave me the experience to prepare witnesses for honest testimony. The freedom to communicate up and down my chain of command gave me the experience to tell a detective the proof isn't sufficient for a criminal charge or respectfully object to a ruling the sitting judge makes. It takes courage to stand and do the right thing.
For nearly twenty years, I have served the people Mississippi as an Assistant District Attorney.
I have spent my career prosecuting the worst of the worst: murders, domestic violence homicides, and violent child predators. My guiding principle has always been to seek the truth, wherever it takes me. There is often a victim who has had real harm done to them. I make sure they know they are not alone. I make sure that any and all resources needed are provided, regardless of if their case can be prosecuted. I do my best to give them the courage to work through very difficult times.
My dedication to my community led me to serve my church on the review board designed to protect children. My expertise with child protection gave me the opportunity to serve on the National Review Board as Chair of the Audit Committee. My experience walking into the unknown and unknowable of a deployment gave me the courage to take the lead in protecting children in my church.
My wife Holly shares my commitment to service. We have raised thousands of dollars for Family Crisis of North Mississippi. Along with Operation BBQ Relief we served thousands of hot meals during disaster Winter Storm Fern.
A judge’s role is not about exercising power. It is about honor. It is about doing the right thing. It is about finding a just outcome.
It is about courage. The courage to make a difficult decision when justice demands it. The courage to listen to both sides, apply the facts to the law, and dispense justice. The courage to send someone to prison when needed or drug court when it is the right thing to do.
It is about commitment. The commitment to do what is necessary even if it hurts and uncomfortable.
I am committed. I am committed to justice and the rule of law. You deserve a judge with the courtroom experience, military discipline, and heart of a servant leader to ensure our courts run fairly, transparently, and efficiently. You deserve someone who is committed to you.
My name is Steven Jubera and I humbly ask for your prayers, your support, and an opportunity to serve as Circuit Court Judge.
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