County Prosecutor Candidates Talk Diversion, Overcharging

Fairmount Temple’s 750-seat congregation hall was filled to capacity at Monday’s Greater Cleveland Congregations’ forum for county prosecutor candidates.

Congregants from 40 churches and synagogues gathered to see the five candidates answer to how they would support the organization’s priorities if elected.

The GCC outlined four topics that they wanted candidates to address: preventing juveniles from waiving their right to an attorney, overcharging defendants with crimes, racial disparities in the justice system and adult and juvenile diversion programs.

Four prewritten questions, found on the PDF to the right, each followed a personal story from a congregant about that issue’s impact on his or her life.

One, a former alcoholic, told the candidates about his felony conviction, when he said he begged the judge for treatment in lieu of prison to no avail.

Another told a story about spending time in prison and seeing the disparity between the number of incarcerated blacks and minorities versus whites.

Below, read a little about each of the five Democratic candidates and find out how they answered the four questions asked.

Subodh Chandra

Stephanie Hall

James McDonnell

Tim McGinty

Robert Triozzi