OpenCDA

July 25, 2014

What We Left Out …

Filed under: Probable Cause — Tags: , — Bill @ 7:16 am

ALARCONOpenCdA left out something very relevant from yesterday’s post reporting the conviction of former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife on charges of voter fraud and perjury.  Thanks to alert reader and commenter Susie Snedaker for bringing the omission to our attention in her comment yesterday.

We agree with Susie:  The Los Angeles Times editorial posted online on July 23, 2014, and titled Alarcon prosecution sends the right message to other politicians, DAs is well worth reading.  Carefully.

The Times editorial board clearly gets it.  As they said in their editorial, “…, residency is in most cases a pretty good proxy for engagement with and knowledge of a district, and there is value in having a member of a community represent that community in government.”

We also completely agree with the Times editorial observation that, “The L.A. County district attorney’s office seems to be the only prosecutor in the state willing to bring these types of public integrity cases, and that’s a shame.”  Yes, it is a shame that is not limited to prosecutors in California.

But the Times editorial board saved its strongest point for last.  “The residency requirement is not a technicality; it’s a core tenet of our democratic system enshrined in the law. No politician should gain an advantage by lying, and no prosecutor should ignore evidence of voter fraud.”  To that we would add that no prosecutor and no judge is worthy of their position or the public’s trust and confidence if they ignore evidence of voter fraud and perjury.

Thankfully the Los Angeles County District Attorney, his Deputy DAs, and his Public Integrity Division take their sworn duties seriously.  We wish they would come visit Idaho.  Maybe some of that would rub off on prosecutors and judges here.

4 Comments

  1. If they came to Idaho, they would never make it, especially if there was any hint of reforming this area. Just won’t happen, they would be ruined and ran out. Great conspiracy – all you need is the right judge(s) (who make up their own laws), the right prosecutor (who does nothing) and a politician who likes to live in dark cold places. Nah, not here! 😉

    Comment by Stebbijo — July 25, 2014 @ 7:43 pm

  2. According to a bit on the radio, Mr. Alarcon will be collecting his $100,000 + pension now and forever. A study is underway to determine how best to address the issue of felons and pensions in the future. Which leads me to wonder the status of Sheryl Carroll’s city pension.

    Comment by Susie Snedaker — July 26, 2014 @ 8:30 am

  3. Susie, as I recall, Ms. Carroll is required to provide restitution to the City and her government pension (PERSI) has been attached.

    Comment by Dan Gookin — July 26, 2014 @ 11:17 am

  4. Dan, She continues to collect her government pension earned while employed by the city? I also wonder if the woman found guilty of embezzling from the county also collects her pension. It is a curious dilemma that should be discussed and addressed by all governmental entities.

    Comment by Susie Snedaker — July 27, 2014 @ 8:14 am

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