Cool Cleveland Interviews Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Candidates
As a service to the community, Cool Cleveland has invited all five Cuyahoga County Prosecutor candidates to respond to a series of questions prior to the primary election on Tuesday, March 6, 2012. Because no Republican candidates are running, the Democratic candidate with the most votes in the Democratic Primary on Tue 3/6 will become the next County Prosecutor. Responses to these questions will be reprinted verbatim, up to the requested limit of 350 words total.
QUESTION 1: (two parts)
On a scale of one to ten, please rate the current prosecutor’s office.
Subodh Chandra response: Overall, a 3, although individual performance varies greatly, and the office has done some things very well, such as the Internet Crimes Against Children task force.
Then, in 350 words, please tell our readers what you would do differently.
Subodh Chandra response: While prosecuting violent offenders to the fullest extent of the law, we should move beyond the stale rhetoric about who is “tough” on crime and talk about being “smart” on crime. The people across this county deserve confidence that just one standard of justice that applies to everyone. Here’s how we get there:
* Sanitize the Prosecutor’s Office of patronage politics. Prosecutors are entrusted with incredible authority that puts people at risk of losing life, liberty, and property. The public deserves to know that that authority is exercised with impartiality and integrity. I will issue a Code of Conduct—based on what the U.S. Department of Justice, where I served, demands of its prosecutors—that prohibits holding a partisan elected office or political-party position, and from fundraising for partisan political candidates. And we should hire only the best, diverse prosecutors through an open hiring process.
* Establish a Public-Integrity Unit to address corruption. Feds had to step in to address county corruption because the county did not. I will designate prosecutors to investigate and prosecute public corruption.
* Establish a Conviction-Integrity Unit. We have a wrongful-conviction problem, the famous Michael Green case (prosecuted by Tim McGinty) being just one of them. I will establish a conviction-integrity unit to work with groups like the Innocence Project to correct injustices—and ensure that the true perpetrators are brought to justice. We need a prosecutor who wants to seek justice, not bury his head in the sand.
* End overcharging and death-penalty grandstanding. The death penalty—the ultimate irreversible punishment—requires sober-minded prosecutors interested in doing justice and getting it right, not showing off. Right now, many cases are overcharged.
* Protect us from re-entering ex-offenders by ensuring they are economically productive. With a quarter of Ohio’s inmates annually returning to Cuyahoga County, we have had what amounts to a major crisis on our hands with no plan to address it. I will work to ensure that an inmate’s re-entry into society keeps them from re-establishing criminal patterns of conduct.
* Tamp down on truancy and stave off the supply of future criminals. Studies show… (350 word limit)
http://chandraforprosecutor.com
One Response to “Prosecutor Candidate Chandra Rates The Current Prosecutor’s Office”
Art McKoy
The man was on a roll and they cut him off…
Best I have read so far.