The Feb. 4 forum at the Campbell Public Library, was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of San Jose/Santa Clara and Southwest Santa Clara Valley.

Three candidates—Lance Burrow, Griffin Bonini and Enrique Colin—hope to win a seat for Superior Court judge in Office 7. Two candidates, Teresa Guerrero-Daley and William J. Monahan, are running for a seat as Superior Court judge in Office 18.

At issue were how best to improve conditions for inmates in the county's juvenile hall and who should make the decision to try juveniles charged with serious felonies as adults.

The first issue will go before the voters on March 2 in the form of Measure A, which if passed would transfer the power to appoint chief probation officers for both adult and juvenile court from the juvenile court judge to the county board of supervisors. County supervisors crafted this measure in response to a recent independent audit, which harshly criticized conditions and treatment of prisoners at juvenile hall.

Monahan, said the court should retain its power of appointment while, his opponent, Guerrero-Daley, said either body could do the job equally well.

"The issue is not who's in control but the mechanisms that need to be in place [to effect change]," Guerrero-Daley added. "It's important to rebuild public confidence [in the juvenile justice system]."

Two of the three candidates running for Seat 7 agreed with Guerrero-Daley's assessment.

"I don't care who does it as long as it gets fixed," said Griffin Bonini. "I think Measure A will do that."

Enrique Colin, a public defender who has trained and supervised attorneys in his office's juvenile division, said the issue isn't who appoints the probation officers but who trains them. "I've seen inmates whose arms were broken from being placed in the hold position incorrectly," he said, twisting one arm behind his back to demonstrate the move. "Whoever handles the officers' appointments needs to consider the health and safety of the juveniles."

Lance Burrow said, "I tend to think that the courts are in a better position than the legislative branch to make the appointments."

Burrow said judges are also better positioned than prosecutors to make the decision as to whether to try juveniles as adults. This year, the county district attorney's office has charged two juvenile murder suspects as adults in separate cases.

"I'd much prefer an impartial third party make the decision," Burrow said. "I'm concerned about the rush to prosecute kids as adults just to make a point."

According to Colin, before the law changed to give prosecutors the power to move juveniles to adult court, judges transferred about one youthful defendant per month. "The level is still about the same," Colin said.