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Probate judge candidates Jerald Barber and Americo Carchia at WNHH FM.
Voters who make it to the 10th line of the election ballot on Nov. 8 will continue a tradition dating back to 1666: Electing New Haven’s probate judge.
And they will have a choice.
Two candidates are vying for the chance to succeed retiring New Haven Probate Judge Clifton Graves Jr.: Democrat Americo Carchia and Independent Party candidate Jerald Barber, whom the Republican Party has also endorsed.
The position is Connecticut’s only elected judge position. It’s also in some ways the most Solomonic — making sometimes heart-wrenching decisions about child custody, parental rights, adoption, and guardianship of intellectually disabled individuals. Not to mention approving wills and name changes.
In a campaign debate Wednesday aired on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven,” Carchia said he’s running as a Democrat because he embraces the party’s values of “family, community” and providing for people in need. Barber, previously a Democrat, said he embraces those values, too; he said he’s running as an Independent as a ballot-access issue, because Democratic Party leaders blocked him from having a shot at the nomination. He called probate a “people’s court” with a judge whom the people, not party leaders, should choose.
Both also spoke of how their experience has prepared them for the post. Barber grew up here, is the pastor at a church on Beers Street, and has practiced law for 31 years. “I am connected to this community,” he said. “I’m an experienced attorney. I know the law. I know how to apply it. And I care not only for my clients, but about doing the right thing.” Carchia spoke of focusing on probate matters as an attorney for 28 years. “I have represented children, mothers, fathers, the mentally ill, guardians, conserved persons,” he said.
If elected, Carchia said, he’d look to have more court proceedings return to in-person at the 200 Orange St. court suite rather than remote status. “A trial on camera doesn’t work,” he said. He spoke of involving community groups supporting children with more of the work that takes place in the court, along with connecting people with more information about mental health services and housing. Barber agreed about connecting participants in court matters with information about services. He said that he would look as well to hold public information sessions about probate matters at hospitals, community centers and nursing homes.
Both men cited their fathers as influences on the work they do and their reasons for pursuing the judgeship. Barber’s father, John, was a leading civil rights figure in New Haven in the 1960s, who challenged the law to live up to its ideals. As a child, Carchia saw the crucial role an attorney played in helping his father, an entrepreneurial immigrant from Amalfi, establish businesses in New Haven and pursue his dreams.
During the debate, the candidates were asked to cite a case they’ve handled that informs their view on the responsibilities they would assume as judge.
Barber spoke of meeting an elderly woman at the hospital after she had a stroke. He was appointed her conservator. “Her desire was to get back home,” he said. That involved “going through a lot of red tape to get that done,” he said: Working on rehab and in-home care, setting up rehab, winning permission.
“With the in-home help, we were able to successfully get her back home. She spent the last three to four months of her life at home, rather than a nursing home,” Barber said. “That pointed out the importance of going beyond being just the attorney — getting involved with your conserved person and trying to determine their wishes and doing the best you can to get that done.”
Carchia served as conservator for a woman in her 70s who was being committed against her will to a 15-day psychiatric stay at the Hospital of St. Raphael (before it became part of Yale New Haven).
The woman lived across the street from the hospital. She had been calling police to complain that “people were coming to the door saying they were going to take her house. She was brought to the hospital. The doctors disavowed everything she said,” Carchia recalled. The woman met with a psychiatrist. She told him, “You are trying to take my house. I don’t like it. I don’t want you to come back to the house.” So she was committed. “They thought she was delusional.”
Carchia obtained a probable cause hearing for her at the probate court. He also did some digging. It turned out that the hospital was indeed leaving flyers and knocking at her door repeatedly seeking to purchase her home for a planned expansion. Carchia prevailed on the judge to allow the woman to return home.
“That really made me focus on how delicate it is to be confined to a hospital, and how much power a doctor has over our freedom,” Carchia said.
Click on the video to watch the full debate with probate judge candidates Americo Carchia and Jerald Barber on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.”
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I initially was not interested in this debate... I mean Probate Judge electionlll./ needs a debate? Man, listen, this was such a good discussion! I was tuned in! I learned a few things! I got to thinking about what was siad, some really great points and ideas. Both of these men would be excellent choices.
Actually they should run a Candidates Academy on how to talk to each other when you're running for election!
Gentlemen applies. High-Five Paul Bass!