Thursday, September 2, 2010

Ersatz Cop stuck in CP's Craw

Why the CP's Brian Morton won't endorse a candidate in the State's Attorney's race. Valid point, or lame wuss-out?

& your Page du Jour, the smoke and mirrors of conviction rates. Hey, math is hard!
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2 comments:

Dopple said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Thu Sep 02, 02:47:00 PM EDT
Dopple said...

Wow Brian Morton completely punted with that article. Having a uniformed police officer, a symbol of state power, in a political add for a candidate running for a law enforcement position is perfectly acceptable. What if Bernstein put a jail cell door slamming shut in his add…isn’t that more ominous than someone in a generic police uniform having a conversation with a candidate? Would the Department of Corrections be called on the carpet for entering the world of politics? Of course not. Besides, Mayoral candidates always have photo-ops with people in uniform. Heck Dukakis actually drove around in a tank during his campaign. Outraged? Give me a break. Is it wrong? Absolutely not. Police and prosecutors share a common goal, Law Enforcement; they simply wear different uniforms while they do their job.

Political science 101: Judges, not prosecutors keep a check on the executive branch. That's the bright line that separates powers in our system of government. That’s the system that attempts to limit abuses. The State's attorney is an elected executive position that uses the police as investigators to prove cases and keep us safe from the monsters that don't care about human life. They do that by presenting a case to a judge and asking for a conviction. Remember, it’s the prosecutors deciding what punishment to ask for, not the police.

Mr. Morton be more concerned about Ms. Jessamy’s dismal conviction rate that basically allows repeat offenders to kill and terrorize the citizens of Baltimore, and much less worried about campaign adds, or even police endorsements.

Thu Sep 02, 02:52:00 PM EDT

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