The November elections are quickly approaching and some of those vying for votes are judges. The American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky has released the responses of judicial candidates to a questionnaire the group sent to everyone seeking the bench.
Corey Shapiro is the legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky. He said, because of the role judges perform, they wanted the voters to be as well informed as possible.
“We recognize that judges play a critical role in reforming our broken criminal legal system and we wanted to make sure that voters have the information they need to be an informed and knowledge electorate.”
He said it is important for Kentuckians to know who their potential judges are.
“Judges have an incredible amount of power in our judicial system, in our legal system. They can reduce incarceration rates, they can help people seek treatment from substance use disorder, they can help keep children out of adult prisons and more, but they also can make problems worse.”
Judicial races are non-partisan in Kentucky. Shapiro says they asked candidates questions ranging from police misconduct to which supreme court justice they most admire. The candidates’ responses and the ACLU of Kentucky’s judicial election guide can be found here.
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