The Daily Agenda: Racial equity takes center stage in JP races

The NAACP Tucson Branch hosted a forum for contested constable and justice of the peace races … Two of the six candidates showed up, and they had plenty to say … Big money in manganese.

There’s plenty of data showing people of color are overrepresented in Pima County’s criminal justice system, so it’s no surprise that the issue is taking center stage in many of the local criminal justice-related races.

African American people represent 4% of Pima County’s population, but in jail, they make up 15% of the population and one group working to shine a light on candidates’ views on this overrepresentation is the NAACP’s Tucson Branch.

In advance of July’s primary elections, the group distributed written questionnaires to candidates running for all criminal justice-related offices and is hosting forums in contested races, the first of which took place last week.

The forum included candidates for constable and justice of the peace positions, of which there are three contested races headed into the primary (You can find our previous reporting about those races here.)

Of the six candidates invited to attend, only two showed up, meaning Democratic Justice of the Peace candidates Kendrick Wilson and Michael Buglewicz (who are not running against each other) had almost an hour to discuss their relationship with the African American community, their thoughts on high-dollar bonds for non-violent offenders, steps they’d take to address racial inequity in the system and more.

Justice of the Peace candidates Kendrick Wilson and Michael Buglewicz.

Wilson is a former Pima County prosecutor representing Precinct 9, which covers much of southern Tucson and the San Xavier reservation. He was appointed as Justice of the Peace in 2019, re-elected in 2020 and presides over domestic violence and animal welfare courts. Buglewicz is challenging incumbent Charlene Pesquiera in Precinct 4, which extends from Tucson’s west side and includes Tucson Estates and Three Points. Buglewicz has spent 30 years working for the sheriff’s department and is lead detective of the domestic violence division.

Organizers noted their disappointment that neither Precinct 6 incumbent Bennett Bernal nor his challenger Ivan Ricardo Tolano responded to the group’s invitation to participate in the forum or sent in answers to the written questionnaire, saying it pointed to a larger issue. 

“It is unfortunate that the candidates for constable did not prioritize the community represented by the NAACP and (Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance) as a community that it is important to engage,” said Moderator and Vice President and Criminal Justice Chair Amelia Cramer.                                                                                       

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the candidates who participated either, with organizers taking a moment at the end to educate attendees about the use of a problematic word during one of the answers.

We’ll get to that later, but first let’s talk about the candidates’ views on the issues.

Addressing the overrepresentation of African American, Hispanic and Native American people in jail:

Wilson said justices of the peace play an important role in this process, since they oversee misdemeanor cases and have an opportunity to intervene before a defendant escalates to the felony level. He said it’s about taking a holistic approach and looking at the whole person when making decisions about whether to hold someone in custody or releasing them with conditions.

Buglewicz agreed, saying it’s important to help people break the cycle before they get to the felony level and offering treatment, counseling and other types of help to those in need.

Advocacy for and service to the Black community:

Wilson said before he became a judge, he advocated to change laws that disproportionately impacted people of color. He said he’s also aware that Black women who are victims of domestic violence are more likely to be further victimized, and it’s important to recognize the dynamic and ensure they’re treated fairly.

Buglewicz said his job as a police officer is similar to the role of a judge because he listens to both sides of the story, gathers evidence and makes a decision based on the law. He said everyone he’s dealt with throughout his criminal justice career has gotten a fair shake and that in his courtroom, everyone will be respected and heard.

Pima County Justice Precincts.

Changes they’d like to see to the position:

Wilson said that while justices of the peace handle mostly misdemeanor cases, one of their more important roles is presiding over preliminary hearings on felony matters, but those don’t happen with every case. Wilson said expanding the use of preliminary hearings in felony cases would help resolve cases and get people out of jail faster.

“This is better for everyone, in particular because the Black community is overrepresented,” he said.

Buclewicz said he’d like to see communication improve between the various courts and law enforcement, since no single entity can handle these types of problems alone.

Data collection as a way to improve equity:

Wilson said his court is collecting data from animal welfare and domestic violence cases to determine if people of color are overrepresented, and over on the animal welfare side, they’re not (they’re still analyzing data from the domestic violence cases.)

Buglewicz went back to his answer about communication, saying because the sheriff’s department has the most data, he’d like to see it more freely shared.

“I would like to see greater open lines of communication between the judges, sheriff’s department and even those in city court so that they can provide updated data so we can provide people information to help them realize how the disparities are in the colored community,” he said.

At the end of the forum, organizers said there had been a lot of comments in the chat about the use of the word “colored,” with NAACP Tucson Branch President Cheree Meeks saying that since the forum was an opportunity to learn about the various candidates, it could also serve as an opportunity to learn from one other.

“This could probably be an entire other session about the use of the word “colored,” but it is a word that comes from a time… when (Black people) saw an extreme amount of discrimination and oppression,” she said. “And we know that words matter.”

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This story was supported by the Local News Initiative of Southern Arizona, a fund of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.

Pick up the pace: The Department of Defense gave a $20 million grant to the Hermosa mining project to speed up the mining of manganese, which is used in electric vehicle batteries, the Arizona Daily Star’s Henry Brean reports. The grant was the first of its kind for manganese under the Defense Production Act. The mine in the Patagonia Mountains would be the first domestic source of manganese. It is still undergoing an environmental review by the U.S. Forest Service. 

Their two cents: Meanwhile, down in Patagonia, residents started giving feedback to the Forest Service on the Hermosa mine, Patagonia Regional Times’ Kat Crockett reports. The public scoping window opened May 10 and the Forest Service held a public meeting at Patagonia Union High School May 20, where they staffed information tables and walked residents through the public comment process. 

Border politics: The Biden administration is considering a crackdown on the U.S.-Mexico border that would shut down asylum requests and deny entry to migrants if the number of encounters exceeds a daily threshold, the Associated Press’ Colleen Long and Seung Min Kim report. Administration officials said the policy was designed to avoid a spike in crossings in the months leading up to the presidential election. They said no final decision had been made.  

Jaguars and the border: Set against the backdrop of images of jaguars projected onto the border wall that runs through downtown Nogales earlier this month, the Tucson Sentinel’s Paul Ingram dives into the implications of the wall on the future of jaguars in Southern Arizona, including one that was recently named “Jaguar Protector” in the O’odham language. 

Long overdue: Tucson Unified School District officials are getting ready to start spending the $480 million in bond money voters approved last year, KGUN’s Kenny Darr reports. First up is replacing HVAC units, installing defibrillators, and getting new technology for classrooms. The bonds are for 10 years and officials plan to start using the money this fall.

Remodeling money: The Rio Nuevo board voted to give $373,000 to the owners of Hub Restaurant & Ice Creamery and Playground Bar & Lounge to help them remove the walls that separate them and merge them into one location, the Star’s Gabriela Rico reports. That will allow them to have one kitchen, one liquor license, and one chef.

$3,687.05: The amount of cash on hand reported by Precinct 9 Justice of the Peace candidate Kendrick Wilson as of the March 31 campaign finance reporting deadline. Over in Precinct 4, candidate Michael Buglewicz reported a negative balance of $282.64 for the same period.