With only one week left before the April 2 election, municipal judge and city prosecutor candidates said during Faith Voices' candidate forum Monday that there are several important issues impacting Jefferson City Municipal Court.
The most important issue impacting municipal court - and all courts around the country - is fairness and justice, municipal judge candidate Brian Stumpe said. He recalled working in a courtroom where he saw two white defendants receive deferred prosecutions for stealing a car stereo and possessing methamphetamine while two Hispanic and black defendants received jail time for stealing two pastries and possessing three grams of marijuana.
"They want to know the decision that is made is not based upon your wealth or lack of wealth, the color of your skin, if you're married or not married, your religion, but that it's based upon what is fair," said Stumpe, who currently serves as city prosecutor. "It's also about justice, that the end result that comes out is a just result."
Municipal judge candidate Tim Anderson said the most important issue impacting municipal court is the "breakdown or the break up of our families." He said children who grow up in single-parent households are more likely to be abused, struggle in school and become delinquent.
"In my time prosecuting, going around the state being a lawyer, I've seen broken families. The ones that always lose when a family is broken are the kids, and that's what we need to pay attention to," Anderson said. "That impacts everything going on in our society right now. In my opinion, we need to do more to non-judgmentally encourage what is helpful and discourage what is not helpful for our families."
Municipal judge candidate Angela Silvey was not present at the forum.
Recidivism is a large issue the municipal court faces, city prosecutor candidate Scott Evans said. The city prosecutor should not only work to decrease the recidivism rate but also find ways to help the residents, he added, especially since poor individuals and minorities make up a large portion of those who end up in municipal court.
"Especially for these poor people, they have to choose between their electric bill and rent one month and now they have a fine on top of it," he said. "We've got this cycle that they can't get out of and they're not able to get ahead. So, it's not just recidivism with the same people coming in with the same offenses; it's how we're treating them and whether or not we try to work with the citizens of the community to help them get out of the cycle that they're in."
City prosecutor candidate Gaylin Carver was not present at the forum but attorney Sara Michael, her partner at Carver & Michael law office, read Carver's responses to some questions Faith Voices gave candidates before the forum.
The biggest discrepancy in the criminal justice system is economic status, Carter said in her written responses. While middle-class defendants have resources that allow them to post bond, poor individuals struggle more to post bond.
"Someone who is living paycheck to paycheck, or worse, takes longer to come up with the resources necessary to post bond and get out of jail, which means they miss work, maybe lose their job, etc.," Michael said while reading Carter's answer. "This is going to be a never-ending issue of which all prosecutors and judges must be conscious and aware (of)."