Monday Jun 21, 2021

Ep. 17 - Broadening the Bench with Julie Cianca

In this episode, host Mary Whiteside welcomes Julie Cianca, a Monroe County Public Defender. Julie is a 26-year veteran trial attorney running for Monroe County Court Judge. 

The Judiciary at the state and federal level is heavily male, white, and straight. The reform movement has focused a lot of attention on increasing diversity by getting more women and people of color on the bench. To expand the bench to include people with different backgrounds and perspectives. However, not enough attention has focused on how a person’s professional background shapes their priorities. The vast majority of the judiciary at the state and federal level is composed of former prosecutors, corporate attorneys, and government attorneys. A much smaller percentage were public defenders or civil rights attorneys. 

Mary spoke with Julie Cianca about why she is running for Monroe County Court Judge and what she thinks she can bring to the bench.  

Here are a few highlights:

1) Most Judges act as if their job is to rubberstamp the actions of the police and the prosecution. Whereas a public defender’s job is to fight for the Constitution. To ensure that the police, the prosecution, and the Judge affords their client all of the protections guaranteed to them under the state and federal constitutions. This makes everyone safer and is the perfect training for a Judge. 

2) Even if it is unpopular, it is a Judge’s responsibility and obligation to suppress unconstitutionally obtained evidence. While this is frustrating to police it also serves to teach them how to do their job better by showing them what is and is not allowed under the Constitution. 

3) If a person is convicted they have to be sentenced. A public defender is used to taking the time and effort to understand the people accused and convicted of crimes. In a system of mass incarceration and a prison bureaucracy, a more balanced bench can help curb the trend of longer and longer sentences without any empirical data to show they are effective at increasing public safety. 

Finally, we encourage everyone to pay attention to their local judicial races and especially to the candidates' backgrounds. In Monroe County, New York Primary Day is June 22nd. Please get to know who is running and make sure you VOTE!

Check out Julie Cianca’s Website:

http://ciancaforcountycourt.com/

Follow Julie on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/julieciancaforcountycourt

For more on Julie’s work as a Public Defender:

https://rochesterbeacon.com/2019/10/10/the-public-defenders-burden/

For Monroe County Voting Information:

https://www.monroecounty.gov/elections

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