The League of Women Voters held their final candidate forum featuring common pleas court judge candidates Herman Carson and George McCarthy
Candidates for the position of Athens Common Pleas Court Judge addressed voters Tuesday night when it came to issues like overdue cases and judge partisanship at the League of Women Voters Candidate Forum.
The event pitted incumbent George McCarthy against Herman Carson, director of the Athens County Public Defender’s Office, and was the last in a series of three forums held at the Athens Public Library, 30 Home St. About 30 people attended the event.
Prior forums featured the candidates for Athens county auditor and 94th district state representative.
In his opening statements, Carson cited 34 years of experience practicing law in Athens County as evidence of his qualifications. He also told the audience that if elected he would avoid letting cases go overdue, which he said was an issue in McCarthy’s judgeship.
“The number of overdue cases under judge McCarthy has doubled since he was appointed by Governor Kasich,” he said.
McCarthy, who was been appointed to the position last year to replace Judge Michael Ward, defended himself by saying many of his overdue cases had been inherited by Ward. He added that several cases received extensions from Carson’s office.
McCarthy called Carson’s qualifications into question, concerning his work as an acting judge for the Athens County Municipal Court. He called the position “more like being a substitute teacher.”
The candidates also spoke to why students should vote for them.
Carson said although the Athens Common Pleas Court is a court that students would rarely come in contact with, students should vote for him if they want a fair and just judge.
McCarthy, on the other hand, said he has worked both in helping keep students out of the judicial system and in cooperating with Ohio University.
He said he had helped develop a diversion program for underage drinkers in order to give them a second chance after their first offense, and that he had also worked with the university to create programs to combat binge drinking.
“I think I have more contact students than Carson would,” he said.
When asked whether or not judge races should be partisan, both candidates agreed that the position should not be partisan but disagreed as to whether or not party affiliations should play into a candidate’s campaign.
McCarthy said Carson had associated himself with one party too much in his campaign, but Carson said that it was fair for a candidate to be clear about his political affiliations before the election.
“I think that party affiliations are reflective of many things including deeply held core values that influence [decisions],” Carson said.
Mary Costello, co-president of the League of Women Voters, said the event was a success overall, adding that most of the questions were thought-provoking and likely helped voters come to a decision more easily.
“Judges are hard to know about because they don’t campaign in the same way as other candidates do,” she said.
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