The two Circuit Court judge candidates tackled several topics during a forum last week at the Lexington Park library.
The April 11 candidates forum, which was between Sue Ann Armitage and incumbent Judge Amy Lorenzini, was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of St. Mary’s County, St. Mary’s County NAACP Branch 7025, the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and the St. Mary’s County Library.
Candidates had three minutes to make opening remarks before tackling questions submitted by the audience. Candidates then had two minutes for closing remarks.
“I am personally invested in the safety of our children and community,” Lorenzini, who has been a judge for the past two years after being appointed by then-Gov. Larry Hogan (R), said during her opening remarks. “And I want to continue doing a fair job and firm job as your judge.”
“Let me tell you the difference between me and my opponent: I’m the only one standing here practicing law,” said Armitage, who has been a litigator for the past 33 years. “I’m the only one standing here who’s owned a business in this county for over 30 years, and I’m the one who’s going to focus on keeping our community safe and that’s what’s important.”
The forum was moderated by Alonzo Gaskin, who asked the candidates how they would deal with hate crimes and violence among youth.
“What I can say is that as a judge over the last two years I’ve made decisions about violence fairly and firmly,” Lorenzini said, adding that as a current judge she was limited to how she could respond to the question.
“I listen to the parties and I make a decision based on those parts of sentencing that I need to consider as a judge; they include punishment, they include deterrents, they include rehabilitation and I take each case and I make a decision on each particular case that comes before me,” she said. “I’m fair, I’m equitable, but I’m firm at the end of the day.”
“Hate crimes are very serious crimes and we have no recourse for our youth except for the juvenile delinquency court,” Armitage said. “[They] can be addressed by rehabilitation and implementing mental health services. ... Some of these crimes are perpetrated throughout their family, and I think that if we could grab the youths now and rehabilitate them before they end up in our adult court, that’s what we need to do.”
Gaskins asked the candidates to describe their thoughts and opinions on the integrity and effectiveness of the current existing judicial system.
“I think our current bench — and I’ll leave Miss Lorenzini on for a minute — does a hell of a job making fair decisions for our community,” Armitage said. “I do have some concern with my opponent and I’m not trying to turn this negative, but there has been melee in her courtroom and there have been seriously light sentences with repeat offenders. I think safety is important. I think integrity is important.”
“I believe in our system … I think we have a good procedure in place with our justice system,” Lorenzini said. “I’ve been following those procedures that are in place and I think that’s what we need from our judges, is to utilize the system that we have and be fair and firm going forward.”
The candidates were asked how are ethical obligations achieved when a candidate accepts monetary donations from attorneys who appear before them.
“I think if a defense attorney that’s going to be in front you and present cases and individuals is going to give you a contribution of $5,000, I think you ought to recuse yourself,” Armitage said. “As a judge you should not be hearing cases of individuals that are supporting your campaign.”
“Who has the most vested interest in making sure that we have a prepared judge sitting on the bench? It’s going to be our lawyers,” Lorenzini said. “They want to make sure that I have the ability to run the right campaign. Does it create an appearance of impropriety? I’d say no, so I don’t think there’s any indication I’m being unfair or unbiased from the contributions that were made.”
The St. Mary’s Republican Club and Republican Women of St. Mary’s will host a “Let’s talk Politics” candidate forum for judges and the school board 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, at Taphouse 1637, located at 23418 Three Notch Road in California.
The primary will be held May 14 with a week of early voting from May 2 to 9.
Both Lorenzini and Armitage will be on the Democratic and Republican primary ballots. If each candidate wins a party’s primary, all registered voters can take part in choosing the winner in November’s general election. If one candidate wins both parties’ primary contests, however, the race is essentially over and only that person will appear on the general election ballots.
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