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by vkou 1319 days ago
Seattle just elected a "hard on crime" Republican prosecutor, who rode in on a wave of promises of prosecuting every misdemeanor, including the backlog (Her opponent was going to prioritize, and drop most of the backlog.)

She got into office, paid a lot of money to legal consultants, and a few months later, announced that she will be... Dropping the backlog of misdemeanors.
1 comments
seanmcdirmid 1319 days ago
She gave up on some of the backlog because the evidence was stale and there were bigger fish to fry. It’s not “giving up” rather declaring bankruptcy so you can focus on more current and serious crimes. This is what happens when you are passed a 3 year backlog from your predecessor.
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vkou 1319 days ago
> She gave up on some of the backlog because the evidence was stale and there were bigger fish to fry.

She attacked that exact same line of reasoning when running for election.

Unsurprisingly, once actually elected, as everyone had said all along, it turned out to be the only way to go forward.

And, of course, the promised reductions in crime are, well, not exactly in any hurry to materialize.

On the one hand, it's a plus that she prioritized good sense over dogma, but on the other hand, it's a little strange how her policies are only bad when its the other party that's advocating for them.

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heleninboodler 1318 days ago
The opponent was advocating for not prosecuting any misdemeanors as a matter of policy. There's a big difference.

Edit because I happen to have the interview bookmarked: Nicole Thomas-Kennedy was the opponent, and in her own words[1], "the goal is to end misdemeanor prosecution."

[1] https://publicola.com/2021/10/18/publicola-questions-nicole-...

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seanmcdirmid 1318 days ago
> She attacked that exact same line of reasoning when running for election.

NTK was a nutter who wanted to stop all prosecution in the city. Ann Davison was a tough on crime realist. Huge difference.

You might be referring to the incumbent who didn't make it through the open primary, but he got us into this mess in the first place. No one was going to give him another shot.

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XorNot 1319 days ago
Those goal posts must motorized with how fast they're being moved these days.
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