Judicial candidates gathered Wednesday night for a forum at Bustleton Memorial American Legion Post 810, at 9151 Old Newtown Road.
Fox Chase resident Melissa Robbins hosted the forum, asking yes-or-no questions for all candidates and other questions directed at specific candidates.
All candidates for Common Pleas and Municipal Court in the May 20 primary were invited. There are 10 candidates for nine openings on Common Pleas Court and five candidates for three openings on Municipal Court. All candidates are Democrats.
Six candidates showed up at the April 30 forum: Common Pleas Court candidates Sarah Jones, Kia Ghee, Larry Farnese and Deborah Watson-Stokes and Municipal Court candidates Sherrie Cohen and Qawi Abdul-Rahman.
The candidates generally agreed with one another on the questions, though Watson-Stokes answered yes and the others no when asked if they favored mandatory minimum sentences. Watson-Stokes, a former homicide prosecutor who expects to be assigned to the court’s homicide division, explained that the law requires convicted murderers to be sentenced to life without parole. In other cases, she said, she opposes mandatory minimums.
Others who attended the event included Common Pleas Court Judge Stephanie Sawyer, who was elected in 2015 and faces a retention vote in November. Sawyer talked about her nonprofit, The Sentencing Foundation, and encouraged people to learn more at TheSentencingFoundation.org
Sawyer also asked people in the crowd to support the three Democratic state Supreme Court justices who face retention on Nov. 4.
State Rep. Sean Dougherty, a lawyer, also asked people to support the three justices, who include his dad, Kevin, along with Christine Donohue and David Wecht.
“Democracy is on the line,” he said.
Robbins, too, called for a yes vote on the justices.
Others who addressed the crowd were city elections commissioner Omar Sabir and a representative from Feeding Foxchase, who asked people to visit the group’s page on Facebook to learn more about the food pantry. ••
