Should Easton's Next District Judge Be a Lawyer?

When you're running for district judge, it's not like trying to get onto a school board or city council.

There aren't really any issues you can come out for or against.

So when the five people who want to take over Easton's downtown district court seat sat down Monday night at an NAACP candidate's forum at the Easton Teen Center, they mainly talked about their qualifications, experience, and whether you need to be a lawyer to do the job.

Not surprisingly, the answer to that last question was a "No" from the three non-lawyers in the race, and a "No, but it helps" from the two attorneys seeking the office.

Tony Bassil, the city's constroller, attorney Antonia Grifo, code inspector Sharbel Koorie, attorney Tim Prendergast and constable Lance Wheeler are all seeking the office, which was left vacant late last year by the sudden death of long-time District Judge Gay Elwell.

“It doesn’t have to be an attorney, but I feel it should be an attorney," said Grifo, who lives downtown. "Why not have the best possible face on this office?"

State law doesn't require you to be a lawyer before becoming district judge.

Elwell herself wasn't a lawyer (she'd covered courts—among other things—as a reporter for The Morning Call before becoming judge in 1996). Neither are most of the county's current district judges, Bassil said Monday.

If the job required a lawyer, the state would have mandated that, he argued.

“They want a community person to be in this position," he said. Bassil, of College Hill, says his experience as controller, plus 30 years in the private sector, gives him a managerial edge over his opponents.

Prendegast says the district—beleived to be the busiest in Northampton County—has changed a lot since Elwell took office. Learning on the job the way she did, he said, is no longer an option.

"Who comes into this job has to hit the ground running,"  said Prendergast, also of College Hill.

He says he has the experience to be that person, having practiced "every single case" that could come before a district judge in the last 10 years.

Wheeler and Koorie, meanwhile, pointed to their experience in working in jobs that require them to deal with the courts on a regular basis.

“I deal with the workings of the district court as a constable every day," Wheeler said. More than having a law degree, he said the job is about having a "common sense degree, and being compassionate."

And Koorie said his time as a city code inspector has shown him things aren't always black and white.

"You come in swinging a bat, and ‘This is what the law is’…you can create a whole other problem," he said. It’s about being able to make good judgements and having compassion."

Wheeler also suggested Prendergast and Grifo would continue praciticing law once elected.

Grifo maintained she will give up her practice. Prendergast said he might handle some "extremely limited" work for business clients on weekends, but would otherwise be a full time judge.

Beyond the "lawyer vs. non-lawyer" debate, the evening had a few other interesting moments:

• Prendergast talking about the former saying he got to know Easton by walking the city, and losing more than 200 pounds in the process.
• Wheeler's statement that he got to know the workings of the district court by hanging out in former Judge Joseph Leo's office as a kid.
• Koorie taking a question about how he'd handle "people in the community are at the bottom," and getting emotional as he talked about how hard he'd worked: "I was in high school before I bought my first pair of leather sneakers."
• Grifo getting a question from another downtown resident who said she'd complained about loud music from a daytime birthday party. Grifo said it was because of a "speaker the size of a refrigerator."

The district court includes downtown Easton, College Hill, and the West Ward up until 10th Street. Bassil, Grifo and Koorie have cross-filed, while Prendergast and Wheeler appear on the Democratic ballot. The election is Tuesday, May 21.