SHAMOKIN — A retired Shamokin police officer and a general contractor living in Snydertown are set to challenge incumbent Magisterial District Judge John Gembic III in Tuesday’s primary election.

William Zalinski, John Simeone and Gembic will appear on the ballot for Republican voters, while Zalinski and Gembic will be the only options for Democrats, as Simeone chose not to cross-file for the election.

Tim Zyla can be reached at 570-644-6397 ext. 1341 or tim_z@newsitem.com.

(1) comment

jesse@brokersrealty.com

It's not often, I would not back the blue. How ever this position is for District Court that is meant for the common man. This is why you don't need a law license to hold this judgeship. All I can tell readers is, if you have ever felt like you could not 100% trust a cop or you look for a brightly lite area to pull over, then you question the intentions of police just a little. As I, stated prior I will always back the blue but from time to time I get those same chills about false charges, This officer on a registration pull over in my truck made me turn over all my weapons on my registered pistols with a permit to carry for him to call the ss# in. This violated my rights and if you think this cop is not going to do the same BS from the bench if elected you're wrong. The district judge is your first step to defend yourself from the police tell me this cop is not going to continue to violate your rights from the bench. Show me a Police office that has your best interest at heart when they give you a ticket and I will show 1,000 judge Judy cases where the sniff test should have tossed it out. Attorney and police are not the correct person for the District Court the common man to prevent you from spending years fighting BS with an attorney at county court is what you need at this level. As it was always intended to be. If your a constitutionalist or you think the constitution is what all laws should be based on since this is the oath they take then Vote anyone but a COP or an ATTORNEY into this position.

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