Upstream. A Mohawk Valley Blogzine.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Yesterday's Elections

I was pleased that Proposition 1 was defeated as it would have given our NY State Assemblymen and Senators more power to spend our money than they already have. I was disappointed, however, that the residents of Montgomery County defeated the change to an elected county leader. We will continue to have leadership by committee, fifteen supervisors micro-managing the county without a single person we can hold responsible.

Congratulations to Beth Schumann for once again defeating "King" Barone for Third Ward Supervisor in the City of Amsterdam. Also congratulations to Richard Leggiero for his defeat of Jim Martuscello, who should have been dumped a long time ago.

Although I generally vote Republican, I was happy to see Patricia DeAngelis get defeated for judge in Rensselaer County. While it may be true as WROW host Paul Vandenburgh stated this morning that Carl Strock and Ernie Tetreault hated DeAnglis because of the Jack Carroll case, some of us believed that DeAngelis should be defeated because civil rights are for everyone, even those accused of a crime. DeAngelis not only does not have a judicial temperament, she has on four occasions been found guilty of prosecutorial misconduct.

DeAnglis is confused about the role of a district attorney, as is Vandenburgh (whom I normally agree with), an avid supporter of DeAngelis. The role of a D.A. is justice; it is not to put as many people behind bars for as long as possible. Both DeAngelis and Vandenburgh are confused about Conservatism and criminal justice. A large prison system is as much a part of big government as is a big welfare system. A conservative approach means putting as few people in prison as possible, primarily the violent, sex offenders and the incorrigible. Restitution, alternative sentencing, capital punishment, etc. should be used instead of prison. The approach that DeAngelis takes is really a liberal approach, not a conservative one.

By the way, what makes people think that being a D.A. means you are therefore qualified to be a judge. While both have to know the law, a prosecutor is by definition an advocate, a judge is not. A judge must be fair and have a temperament suited to being a judge. Many a prosecutor is not suited to being a judge.

If you want to see a District Attorney interested in justice watch the old movie Boomerang based on a real case and starring Dana Andrews, Arthur Kennedy and Lee J. Cobb.

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