A ten-year incumbent judge and a challenger are on the ballot for Onondaga County Court judge in November.

The Onondaga County Court judge’s main job is to preside over trials in serious felony cases, such as a charges of murder, rape, robbery and illegal drug possession or sale.

“A County Court judge’s judgment affects the people in the county,” said Jim Makowiec, the deputy chief clerk for the Onondaga County Supreme Court.   By the judge’s rulings and sentencing, said Makowiec, “He’ll either keep people safe or not.”

On Nov. 3, voters will choose between the incumbent, Anthony F. Aloi, and the challenger, John S. Crisafulli, an attorney.

Here are sketches of the two candidates:

Anthony F. Aloi:

Aloi has been the Onondaga County Court Judge for the past 10 years. Before that, he served as a law clerk for the Onondaga County Court. As a law clerk, he helped other judges research for their cases.

He is running for re-election on the Republican and Conservative Party ballot lines.

Aloi is a native of Syracuse. He graduated from North High School, which was eliminated in 1964. Aloi received his undergraduate degree from Le Moyne College in 1967. He graduated from the University of Akron School of Law in 1971. Aloi and his wife have two children - a daughter and a son - and two grandchildren.

His decision to run for a county court judge 10 years ago was not difficult, Aloi said. He had been a law clerk in the county court for 28 years.

Becoming a judge, he said, “was a natural step” after his years as law clerk.  Being a judge is hard work, said Aloi. Some nights, he comes home very late and often even works on the weekends — researching and reading for his cases said Aloi. “If you want to be prepared,” said Aloi, “you have to work hard at this job.”

A reward, he said, is learning more about the law. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel like I’ve learned something,” said Aloi. “That’s why I like the law, I guess, so much, because it’s always evolving and you need to study and work hard to keep up with it.”

John S. Crisafulli:

Since 2003, Crisafulli has been the supervising hearing examiner for the city’s Parking Violations Bureau. He oversees parking ticket appeals and decides whether to drop the parking tickets’ charges.  He is running for the County Court judgeship on the Democratic Party ballot line.

Crisafulli was born in the Bronx and grew up in Wantagh, N.Y. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Rochester and got his master’s degree in education from Long Island University. Crisafulli moved to Syracuse in 1978 to attend law school at Syracuse University and graduated in 1980.By running for county court judge, Crisafulli said, he wants to pursue his career to “the next level.”

As the challenger, Crisafulli has to raise his public profile with voters. “You have to go to as many public events as you can find, and shake as many hands as you can,” said Crisafulli.

He added:  “If didn’t think that I have a chance of winning, I wouldn’t do this because it’s a lot of work. But that’s what you have to do if you want your name to be known.”

(Silvia Milanova is a senior in newspaper journalism and nutrition.)

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