Cumberland County judge: I want to continue to touch lives, serve more people

Cumberland County has a new Superior Court Judge. Gov. Roy Cooper appointed me to fill the vacancy created when Judge Mary Ann Tally reached mandatory retirement age. Retired Supreme Court Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson swore me in on May 28, 2021. When a judge is appointed to a Superior Court vacancy, the judge must be elected in the next general election to remain in office, and I am running in 2022.

Service as a judge allows me to serve the public more broadly than I could representing individual clients. Before becoming a judge, I had practiced law since graduating from the UNC School of Law in 1978.

More: Here are the 11 candidates in the running to fill Fayetteville's District 3 seat on City Council

More: FTCC president: Cumberland County legislators deserve applause for NC budget wins

In 1985, I returned to Fayetteville, where I grew up, and practiced with the firm that became Beaver Courie Sternlicht Hearp & Broadfoot, P.A., primarily representing clients in civil lawsuits in Superior Court. As a lawyer, I helped many clients over the years, but as a judge, the opportunity for broader public service has certainly presented itself.

I have presided over criminal court with more than a hundred cases on the docket, and I have had civil court with more than 40 motions to rule on. Outside of court, I have considered as many as 20 applications for search warrants and other investigative methods in a day.

I have been able to touch the lives of more people than I was able to in private practice, helping resolve conflicts and providing equal justice for everyone who appears before me in court. I bring my experience, dedication to helping people, and commitment to equal justice under the law to my role as a judge.

I also bring a strong work ethic to the job. Before considering motions, I review files and do research so I am prepared when attorneys and unrepresented parties appear before me. Similarly, before a trial, I prepare an introduction for people who appear for jury service and draft instructions jurors will receive at the end of the trial.

With my extensive experience in civil court, my expertise and perspective are different from the many judges who have criminal law backgrounds, including, for example, Cumberland County’s other three Superior Court Judges, who were all assistant district attorneys, with one also serving as a federal public defender. My civil law background brings complementary experience to Cumberland County’s judiciary. In addition, I have quickly expanded my knowledge of criminal law and presided over sessions with guilty pleas, probation violations and charges including cocaine and heroin trafficking, methamphetamine possession, felonious assault, possession of a firearm by a felon, and DWI.

My main goals as a judge are to make decisions impartially and apply the law correctly. By the 2022 election, I will have even more experience as a judge to go with many years of experience as an attorney appearing before judges. I hope that I have earned the community’s support for my continuing service.

Mark Sternlicht serves as Superior Court Judge for District 12 in Cumberland County.

Support local journalism with a subscription to The Fayetteville Observer. Click the “subscribe” link at the top of this article.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cumberland County judge: I want to continue to touch lives, serve more people