Voters in Oneida County will be selecting a new Oneida County Circuit Court Judge for Branch II.
Assistant District Attorney Mary Sowinski and Corporation Counsel Mike Fugle are running for the position. WXPR introduced you to Fugle Monday. You can find that story here.
For 25 years, Mary Sowinskihas been a lawyer, with the majority of those years serving as a prosecutor.
She’s been an assistant district attorney in Oneida County for the last eight years. Sowinski’s worked on a wide variety of civil and criminal cases.
“I've done dozens of jury trials. I've litigated cases involving both criminal discovery and the civil discovery rules. There's really virtually no case that's going to come before a circuit court that I haven't had some contact with in one way or another,” said Sowinski.
In addition to the experiences she’s gained through her work as a lawyer, Sowinski attributes her skill set to working various jobs like waitressing through high school and as a lobbyist and legislative assistant through her undergrad and law school programs.
“I'm a fifth generation Oneida County resident. I was born and raised here, and this is a community that I love and call home,” said Sowinski “What I want to do is contribute as much as I can, like so many of my neighbors do, to making this the best possible community that we can. I think serving as a judge is a really important way to do that. I think my experience and skill set makes me uniquely qualified to do that.”
Sowinski says understanding, compassion, and courage are the most important qualities a judge can have.
She strongly believes a judge’s role is to apply the laws others have written.
“Judges I think, in order for our system to work, need to be absolutely independent,” said Sowinski. “They're willing to stand up and say what their decision on the law is when it comes time for that to happen, and they know it's going to be controversial.”
Like the other candidate for Judge, Mike Fugle, Mary Sowinski says Oneida County could benefit from a treatment court.
She says she’s seen a lot of cases with first time drug offenses and limited options with how to handle them.
“I think that my history as a prosecutor would suggest that my belief system is that people can be provided treatment services and understand that they need to use those treatment services to change their behavior. And they can be held accountable for that and should be in this community,” said Sowinski.
The race for Oneida County Circuit Court Judge is on the April 2nd ballot.
You can learn what’s on your ballot, how to register, and where to vote with the Spring Election 2024 Voter Guide.
