Kenneth Del Vecchio challenges Village Justice Jeanine Wadeson in March 21 election

WARWICK — Filmmaker/author/attorney Kenneth Del Vecchio is challenging two-term incumbent Jeanine Garritano Wadeson in the March 21 election for Village of Warwick Justice.
The Del Vecchio campaign reports that the candidate obtained nearly 1,000 signatures to be on the ballot and that he continues to go door-to-door to make himself known.
"Voters have a right to meet the person who can be making critical decisions about their lives, and those of their neighbors, as well as others who are visiting the village," Del Vecchio said in the press release detailing his candidacy. "They should be able to cross examine me and ascertain my views of justice. A judge, above all else, must be fair."
Del Vecchio has served as a judge in New Jersey. He is the founder and chairman of Hoboken Film Festival, which is now being held in Greenwood Lake.
And he is the author of some of the best-selling legal books in the country, specifically a series of criminal codebooks published by Pearson Education/Prentice Hall and ALM/New York & New Jersey Law Journals.
Before Del Vecchio served as a judge in New Jersey, he also served as a prosecutor; and he has been a criminal defense attorney for more than 20 years. In total, the Del Vecchio campaign reported that he has tried over 400 cases and handled thousands of others.
Del Vecchio said a prosecutor and judge share the same philosophy.
"A prosecutor's role is to seek justice," he said. "That's it, and you can read it right in the court rules. That means many times going full throttle and prosecuting the cases you are handling. Other times, however, it means dismissing a case on your own motion; if you know that you can't prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, as a prosecutor you have an absolute duty to dismiss that case.
"A judge must be the ultimate neutral arbiter," Del Vecchio continued. "A judge should know nothing about a case before it gets in front of him. He must be blind to it, and then listen to the evidence as presented by the prosecutor and defense attorney. After hearing the evidence, he must apply the law to the facts - and then render a decision. There is no room for a buddy system in the judiciary and there is no room for politics."
The candidate added: "I'm confident in my expertise and I know I am as fair as it gets. But the voters of the Village of Warwick will be the ones to decide if they want me as their judge. I take their suffrage rights very seriously."