NORWICH – Two candidates running for Supreme Court Justice in New York’s Sixth Judicial District attended Lobsterfest. This year, voters of the Sixth Judicial District will have the opportunity to elect three justices, who will each go on to serve 14-year terms.

Joe Fazzary, the current Schuyler County District Attorney and Michael Coccoma, who is currently an acting Supreme Court Justice and Otsego County Judge, attended the republican fund raiser to discuss their qualifications for the position.

The sixth judicial district serves Broome, Chenango, Chemung, Cortland, Delaware, Otsego, Schuyler and Tompkins County. Fazzary said his qualifications for Supreme Court Justice include spending 15 years in Schuyler Court, the last 10 of which he spent as the district attorney.

“I was in private practice for seven years. I’ve had hundreds of cases and lots of experience,” Fazzary said. As a prosecutor, Fazzary said he was always firm, and had a felony conviction rate of over 90 percent.

In addition to trying cases, Fazzary explained he felt he should take proactive actions against crime, so he helped to start several community based programs. Including the Schuyler County Committee on Underage Drinking (SCUD), which worked to send letters to parents of every graduating senior in the county, explaining why the parents should not throw alcohol related parties for students graduating from high school or following the prom. A similar program, Operation Teen Proof helped businesses place identification verifiers in their stores to prevent teens from using fixed IDs to purchase alcohol.