MoCo Circuit Court judge candidates discuss nonpartisan approach to judicial rulings, juvenile crime

Four incumbents, one challenger face off for four seats in June 23 primary

May 29, 2026 12:06 p.m.

Five candidates for Montgomery County Circuit Court seats (left to right) sitting judges Catherine McQueen, James Dietrich, Rockville attorney Marylin Pierre, and judge Sharon Burrell, speaking at a forum hosted by the Leisure World Democratic Club. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

During Wednesday night’s forum at Leisure World in Silver Spring, the five candidates running for the four seats on the Montgomery County Circuit Court in the June 23 primary election discussed their nonpartisan approach to the law and to juvenile cases.

About 25 people attended the forum hosted by the Leisure World Democratic Club and attended by candidates and sitting judges Sharon Burrell, Victor Del Pino, James Dietrich and Catherine McQueen, and challenger Marylin Pierre. Burrell, Del Pino, Dietrich and McQueen are running as a slate while Pierre, a Rockville attorney, is running for the bench in the nonpartisan election for the fifth time.

To learn more about each of the candidates, check out Bethesda Today’s 2026 Primary Election Voters Guide.

Attendees questioned all five candidates during the forum. One attendee asked about the candidates’ judicial philosophies and if they considered themselves liberal or conservative.

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“This is an easy question, because we can’t label ourselves that way,” Dietrich responded. “We are nonpartisan and the reason why we are nonpartisan is because we have to do what the law tells us, whether it is a Democratic legislature, a Republican legislature, a polka dot legislature.”

Dietrich noted that a judge’s main duty is to apply the law as fairly and equally as possible, but acknowledged that judges do have “discretion” that is shaped by their backgrounds.

“I certainly can’t run away from that. That certainly is true, but our guiding principles are the laws that are passed by the legislature, and that’s where we start, and that’s where we have to end,” Dietrich said.

McQueen acknowledged that it may be difficult for voters to determine who to vote for because it is a nonpartisan race. “The only thing we can promise to do is behave with integrity and apply the law properly to the facts of the case, and to treat everybody with respect,” she said.

Approach to juvenile criminal cases

Alluding to an “explosion” in youth crime in the county, one attendee asked about the candidates’ legal perspective on holding parents accountable for their children’s criminal activity.

Del Pino said that as a judge, he is aware of youth crime, specifically the “infestation of ghost guns” in schools and the community, in general. He noted that his older brother was a victim of gun violence at age 14.

“My experience has run pretty deep when it comes to these issues,” Del Pino said. “I can tell you that my colleagues and I think one of the more difficult jobs that we will do … is handling juvenile cases because the reality … is that a juvenile, specifically our young men in this community, they’re still mentally growing.”

Del Pino added that as a judge, he has not yet participated in juvenile court cases but was looking forward to doing so. He said that he believes there’s a potential to bring a “certain dynamic to how things are handled there.”

Burrell, who said she often covers for the county’s one judge who is dedicated to juvenile cases, emphasized that every case is different and there isn’t one “blanket fix.”

“You have to look at each case, look at the parent in each case. I mean, sometimes a parent has done all that they can do, and still the child commits crimes,” Burrell said.

Yard signs for Circuit Court judge candidates outside of the Leisure World Clubhouse I. Photo credit: Elia Griffin

Who is running?

Burrell, an associate judge, has held her position on the bench since her appointment in October 2008, according to the Maryland State Archives. She became the first Black female judge when appointed by former Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), according to the Montgomery County Commission for Women.

In January, Del Pino, a former Montgomery County district court judge since 2019, was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore (D) to the Circuit Court bench. Prior to his appointment and serving as a district court judge, Del Pino was a private practice attorney and a county prosecutor, according to a press release announcing his appointment. While at the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s office, he was the first Latino to be chief of the office’s gang prosecution unit.

In September, Moore appointed Dietrich, a former assistant state’s attorney for the county, to the Circuit Court bench. Dietrich served as a county prosecutor for seven years and is also an adjunct professor at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Dietrich has prosecuted recent high-profile cases such as the trial for Alex Ye, the former Thomas S. Wootton High School student who is serving a year in prison following his January 2025 conviction on a charge of threat of mass violence related to his manifesto describing plans for a school shooting.

McQueen was appointed by Moore to the bench in October 2024. Before becoming an associate judge, McQueen was a private practice attorney for more than two decades with a primary focus on family law. Since her appointment to the bench, McQueen said she has been ruling on family law cases in the county.

Pierre, a Haitian immigrant and graduate of Howard University School of Law, has practiced as an attorney in the county for more than 30 years. She made unsuccessful runs for a seat on the county Circuit Court bench in 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024. Before becoming an attorney, Pierre served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves, according to her campaign website.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine