LEONARDTOWN, Md. – On April 11th, the Saint Mary’s County Chapter of the League of Women Voters (LWV) along with the Saint Mary’s County NAACP held a debate forum featuring candidates for the upcoming Judge of the Circuit Court election.
The candidates featured for Judge of the Circuit Court were Amy Lorenzini and Sue Ann Armitage. The moderators for the debate were Kathleen Werner, Vice President of the Saint Mary’s County LWV, Marsha Williams, President of the Saint Mary’s County NAACP, and Alonzo Gaskin, Second Vice-President of the Saint Mary’s County NAACP.
Each candidate had around three minutes to give their opening statement to introduce themselves and what their campaign represents.
Lorenzini, who was appointed to her position two years ago by then-Governor Larry Hogan, spoke of her commitment to the safety of the community and its children.
Armitage spoke of her experience as a litigator and business owner of 30 years, a fact that she believes makes her more qualified for the job of circuit court judge.
Highlights included both women explaining their judicial philosophy.
“My judicial philosophy is characterized by five principles,” said Lorenzini. “Always come prepared and ready to listen to people on the bench, afford all parties fairness and due process of law, listen to everyone and don’t jump to any conclusions, maintain an open mind throughout the proceedings, and have no personal agenda.”
“I believe in being fair and impartial,” Armitage replied. “If you’ve ever had me represent you, you know that I am always fair and I apply the facts to the law. That’s what’s important. Impartiality is very important.”
Another noteworthy highlight included when the candidates were asked “How would you address the problem with hate crime and violence among our youth?”
According to Lorenzini, “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.”
“Hate crimes are very serious crimes and we have no recourse for our youth except for the juvenile delinquency court,” said Armitage. “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.”
Early voting for the Primary Election will be held from May 2 to 9. The Primary Election will be held on May 14th.
To watch the full forum, click here.
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Please keep in mind that Circuit Court judge terms are 15 years and that those that are over 55 will not do a full term because mandatory retirement is 70.