DA endorsement questionaire: Seth Williams

Name: R. Seth Williams

Office Sought: District Attorney of Philadelphia

Campaign website: www.votesethwilliams.com

Contact person: Daryl Gale

Email: daryl@votesethwilliams.com

Phone: (888) SETH4DA

1) If elected, what will be your top priorities? Specifically, how will you make Philadelphia’s criminal justice system work better and, if possible, more efficiently?

1. Fixing Philadelphia’s broken, revolving-door system of justice.
2. Identifying and targeting the worst repeat offenders.
3. Strengthening partnerships with neighbors and communities, the police department, courts, parole board, and various law enforcement agencies.

My priorities in addressing these are, first, to streamline the systems and communications that stall the justice system. Sixty percent of all felony cases, including a third of all gun cases, are dismissed at preliminary hearing because the prosecution is not ready to go forward. The District Attorney’s Office must take advantage of the latest research, technology, and best practices to fix the system, and bring the Office into the 21st century.

Second, I will target hardened career criminals for long prison sentences, while taking advantage of proven programs to keep first-time offenders from becoming repeat offenders.

Third, through Community-Based Justice, I will forge new partnerships with neighbors and communities hardest hit by violent crime. Under this system, prosecutors and judges work directly with the police and neighbors in the community in identifying the neighborhood’s crime problems and formulating solutions. This model has proven effective in large cities throughout the country.

2) Do you support the death penalty? If so, what would be your criteria for seeking it?

Ideally, I envision a criminal justice system in which we don’t need a death penalty. That day is not today, and the death penalty is a matter of Pennsylvania law. As such, I recognize its usefulness in certain cases, but unlike our incumbent District Attorney, I do not think the death penalty should be used as a “catch all” tool for prosecutors.

The ultimate penalty should be reserved for ultimate crimes: serial killers, or unrepentant multiple murderers for example; people who by both the heinous nature of their crime and their lack of remorse dictate a penalty even greater than life in prison.

The prosecutorial habit of throwing the death penalty at any defendant who even remotely qualifies is costly, ineffective, and risky. The District Attorney’s Office was highly criticized in 2002 after it charged four innocent men with one of the worst mass murders in city history, then the charges were dropped after the men spent 18 months in jail.

The goal of the District Attorney should be to see that murderers are taken off our streets, not just rack up death penalty convictions.

3) What steps do you support to help reduce gun violence in Philadelphia?

We need to stop the rampant gun violence in Philadelphia, first by targeting the sellers of illegal weapons, then by changing the state’s laws to allow for commonsense restrictions and then lastly by fully and aggressively prosecuting those who use guns in the commission of a crime.

As District Attorney, I will institute a system of community-based justice, in which prosecutors will work directly with neighbors and local police districts in identifying the community’s illegal gun merchants and putting them out of business. Felons who use a gun in the commission of a crime will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, whether that gun is fired or not.

Weapons offenses should be prosecuted swiftly and consistently, with the goal of keeping guns off our streets, and sending a clear message to those who traffic in illegal guns that Philadelphia is a bad place to do business.

4) What steps do you support to help reduce overcrowding in Philadelphia’s prisons?

Philadelphia’s prisons are overcrowded because of the inefficiency of the criminal justice system. Defendants unable to raise even minimum bail are often kept for months, through continuance after continuance, until their hearing. First-time offenders are housed with hardened criminals, increasing their chances of recidivism. Prosecutors often don’t get the case file until the day before trial, and witnesses, victims, and even the arresting officers are often not notified, or notified at the last minute.

By eliminating the systemic breakdowns, improving communications, sharing information and resources, and by targeting the worst offenders for long sentences while helping first-time offenders mend their ways, the District Attorney can play a major role in reducing Philadelphia’s prison overcrowding.

5) Do you support mandatory minimum sentences for first-time non-violent drug crimes, such as marijuana possession?

For some first time or nonviolent offenders, justice is better served through alternatives to incarceration. Young offenders, once exposed to the prison environment, are more likely to become recidivists upon release, earning progressively longer sentences. The chances that a young nonviolent offender can be turned around are greater when exposed to work camps or work release programs with an educational component. When I become District Attorney, our office will take full advantage of these programs, freeing the much-needed prison space for offenders who belong in prison.

6) Crime results from poverty, and lack of jobs and educational opportunity. Summarize briefly how you think the District Attorney’s office should fit in Philadelphia’s crime prevention efforts, including youth programs and re-entry programs for ex-offenders.

Not all crime results from poverty and a lack of jobs and educational opportunity and it is important for the District Attorney to recognize the difference between someone who is committing a crime because they have no options and someone who is a hardened criminal.

Under my direction, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office will work with business and community stakeholders to implement an alternative to incarceration called Back on Track. Designed by San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, Back on Track couples strict accountability and close supervision with education, employment support and health care. Back on Track has drastically reduced recidivism rates in San Francisco by focusing on public safety, economic and social efficacy of offering career development alternatives for young adults who otherwise face felony conviction and incarceration.

7) What steps do you support to protect women in Philadelphia from discrimination and abuse?

The abuse of women, including spousal abuse, will not be tolerated by my District Attorney’s Office. All assaults will be prosecuted and the abusers of women and children will face the stiffest penalties allowable by law. Period.

As a husband and father of three daughters, I fully understand the importance of protecting women from abuse and discrimination, and my office will never fail to do so.

8) What steps do you support to protect the LGBT community from discrimination and abuse?

Discrimination must never be tolerated, and members of the LGBT community have every right and privilege afforded to all citizens, including the right to freedom from discrimination. Discrimination, abuse, assault and hate crimes have no place in a free society, and my District Attorney’s office will take these crimes seriously.

No one is above the law, and all are equally protected by it.

9) Philly For Change supports reform in government. How can the District Attorney’s office discourage corruption and promote transparency in government?

As the former Inspector General of the City of Philadelphia, I have first-hand experience with investigating the entrenched fraud, waste, and corruption of Philadelphia’s employees and public officials. Government corruption on any level is a cancer to the entire system, and must be vigorously prosecuted when proven. As District Attorney, I will no longer allow corruption to erode the public trust in our system of justice, and will treat municipal employees, civil servants and public officials no differently than any other defendant. In addition to the cases investigated and prosecuted by our special investigations unit, I will assign an assistant district attorney to act as liaison with the Office of the Inspector General.

10) Philly for Change supports candidates who share our members’ ideals; however, we have limited resources. To maximize our effectiveness, tell us how—should you receive our endorsement—we can help you win.

I would be honored to receive the endorsement of Philly for Change, and I appreciate your generous offer of support should I receive that endorsement.

Any volunteer support would be appreciated as well as donations from your members. From phone calls to leaflet distribution to get-out-the-vote efforts to Election Day workers, my campaign would appreciate your members’ time, resources, and leg work. Please go to my website, www.votesethwilliams.com and click the “Get Involved” button to contact our volunteer coordinators.