A life-long resident of Northern Blair County, Suzanne Bigelow-Cherry, is running for the position of district magistrate for Tyrone, Bellwood, Snyder Township, Antis Township and parts of Tyrone Township.
\nBigelow-Cherry, who has been practicing law for the past 10 years, believes that she can provide experience to the office.
\n\u201cOur close knit community is facing some big city problems,\u201d said Bigelow-Cherry. \u201cDrugs are available throughout our community. I have seen drugs cost individuals their families and their liveliehoods. Drugs are a cause in the rise in crimes and domestic violence. I have spent time in civil litigation, the criminal justice system, talking with mental health workers, educators and pastors trying to find ways to address this issue. I hope to bring experience to the office and help make our community a safer place to live.\u201d
\nShe also wants to go after the suppliers.
\n\u201cThere are people who are supplying the young people with drugs and alcohol,\u201d said Bigelow-Cherry. \u201cThese are the people that we need to be going after. This can\u2019t be tolerated.\u201d
\nWhen asked if there were any endorsements she received, Bigelow-Cherry replied, \u201cI haven\u2019t been asking for endorsements. I don\u2019t want to owe anyone anything. I believe that any person coming before the bench should be treated impartially.\u201d
\nBigelow-Cherry graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with undergraduate degrees in political science and psychology and earned her law degree from the University of Akron.
\nAfter passing the bar exam, Bigelow-Cherry went into private practice.
\n\u201cI have litigated cases in front of each district justice in Blair County,\u201d said Bigelow-Cherry. \u201cI have litigated at the Blair County Court of Common Pleas, representing parents, children and incapicated people. I have spent 10 years as a civil arbitrator for the Blair County Court of Common Pleas.\u201d
\nBigelow-Cherry has one main reason for seeking office.
\n\u201cI believe that I can make a difference,\u201d said Bigelow-Cherry. \u201cI have worked for five years doing pro-bono legl service. I have represented a lot of hard working people who don\u2019t have a lot of money for legal fees. I have volunteered for \u2018Ask the Lawyer Night\u2019 for Call for Action and have served on the Child Abuse Task Force.\u201d
\nBigelow-Cherry believes that juveniles need to realize that a crime is a crime.
\n\u201cNo offense is less serious because a juvenile committed the offense,\u201d said the candidate. \u201cThe offense isn\u2019t going to be looked at differently because a juvenile committed the offense. Obviously there are certain sentances and procedures that go with juvenile crime. They need someone to advise them or they could continue down the wrong path.\u201d
\nBigelow-Cherry is a believer in swift justice.
\n\u201cThe district justice has discression on the amount of bail that is set and approving continuances,\u201d said the candidate. \u201cJustice delayed is justice denied. Cases need to be promptly and swiftly addressed.\u201d
\nBigelow-Cherry and her husband Mike have two children and live in Sinking Valley, Tyrone Township.
\nBigelow-Cherry will appear on both the Republican and Democratic tickets in the May primary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A life-long resident of Northern Blair County, Suzanne Bigelow-Cherry, is running for the position of district magistrate for Tyrone, Bellwood, Snyder Township, Antis Township and parts of Tyrone Township. Bigelow-Cherry, who has been practicing law for the past 10 years, believes that she can provide experience to the office. \u201cOur close knit community is facing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}