DPTV to air Supreme Court candidate forum

Only three days after hosting the Michigan Gubernatorial Town Hall Forum, WTVS Detroit Public Television (DPTV) will give voters the opportunity to learn about the candidates running for the Michigan Supreme Court through a forum to be recorded in the DPTV studio on Wednesday, Oct. 15. 

Detroit Public Television will broadcast the one-hour event on its digital channel 56.2 on Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. and again Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 9 p.m.

DPTV will also make the over-the-air program available to public and commercial broadcast stations throughout Michigan, and will provide an embeddable video player to media organizations statewide for their websites.

Sponsors of the event include  the Oakland County Bar Association (OCBA), the League of Women Voters of Michigan, The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News

“We are pleased to be able to provide the candidates of the Michigan Supreme Court with a forum to share their views, thus enabling voters to make an informed decision come November,” said Rich Homberg, DPTV president and CEO. “We appreciate the support of our partners in this forum and look forward to a great conversation.” 

Three seats are up for election on the Michigan Supreme Court this November. Two are full-term seats, the third is a partial-term to fill the vacancy of long-time Justice Michael Cavanagh, who is age limited by the Michigan Constitution.

The six candidates invited to the forum are: incumbents Hon. Brian Zahra (8-year term) and Hon. David Viviano (two-year term) along with new candidates Hon. Deborah Thomas, Wayne County Circuit Court judge; attorney Richard Bernstein of Birmingham; Hon. Bill Murphy, chief judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals Second District; and Hon. James Robert Redford, Kent County Circuit Court judge.

The forum will be moderated by the League of Women Voters and will consist of three panelists — one each from the OCBA, The Detroit News and The Detroit Free Press.

Each candidate will make a one-minute opening statement and a one-minute closing statement, and each will have one minute to respond to questions.

“We are thrilled to be able to participate in organizing this important forum for the Supreme Court candidates,” said OCBA President Thomas Howlett. “We have previously held many judicial candidate forums in Oakland County, and we look forward to offering a valuable public service to voters in this important statewide judicial election.”

 His comments were echoed by Susan Smith, president of the League of Women Voters of Michigan.

“The League of Women Voters is pleased to be co-sponsoring the Supreme Court Candidate Forum,” Smith said. “Providing non-partisan, candidate information to voters so they can make informed decisions when they go to the polls is the core mission of the League.” .

Detroit Public TV’s WORLD 56.2 may be seen on Comcast channel 287, BrightHouse channel 155 or Charter channels 432 or 194.

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