It's twenty-six days away from the Democratic primary here in Philly. Seth Williams will receive my vote. During her fourteen year reign current D.A. Lynne Abraham has lead the D.A.'s office into a state of disarray.
disorganization of the District Attorney's Office leads to about 55 percent of felony arrests being dismissed prior to trial because cases are handed off to multiple prosecutors as they move through the system [source]Which is why Williams is suggesting a community based prosecution program where one D.A. is acountable for their own section of the Philly. Each D.A. would be able to better keep track of what goes on in each section of Philly better than a new D.A. being assigned to cases which may have more to do with each other than at first glance. This vertical integration looks neater on paper and in theory it just makes sense. It will be up to us to get Williams in office to see if it works in practice as well.
only 18.7 percent of registered Democrats turned out for the 2001 primary. Abraham got 58 percent of the vote [source]Following the upswell that Philadelphia experienced during the national election just a few months ago, we should be getting more than twenty percent of registrants out to the polls. The main point [IMO] of being a registered Democrat or Republican is the ability to throw your weight during a primary behind the person you care the most about and feel will make the most change in office. Once the primary is all done, that is the time to fall, more or less, back into party lines. The cutoff date to register as a Democrat has unfortunately passed [it was the 18th of April], but there are still many people who are already registered as such.
One of the major points Abraham's supporters and those scared to oppose her bring up is that she's got too much power. With fourteen years in office in a major metropolitan area of the U.S. it would seem so. But Williams alluded to the fact that at meetings all around Philly where Abraham shows her face, for the most part, there are arguments. People in the City Council, Fraternal Order of Police and others are fed up. They want change. The Philly FOP is backing Williams. I repeat: the very organization that interacts closest with the D.A.'s office is throwing their weight behind Williams. For those who may not be as familiar with the interaction between the D.A.'s office and the police, please watch an episode of Law & Order and you'll get the drift. Williams also has quite a bit of experience: he was a member of Abraham's team for ten years.
Williams has been in the middle of it all and knows what needs to be improved. He said, at DL, that he had sent numerous memos during his time in the D.A.'s office suggesting changes here and there. They all went up the ladder and back down, each with a resounding no. In the end, he couldn't do it anymore and left to practice law elsewhere; but now he is back to serve the city — only now relying on our help to get him to the helm.
Williams is a family man, with a wife and three daughters; he is a military man, holding the rank of Captain in the Army Reserves; he is a local Philadelphia man. To me, he seems like the right person for the job. I urge all those who come across this post to read up as much as you can about each of these people and make the decision for yourself. Below are some links from my fellow Philly bloggers with more thoughts.
More on Williams:
Absolutely agree that we need a new DA in Philly and Seth is the one.
He's been dead on with his proposal to link ADA's with Police Districts to streamline the process and give them time to prepare their case. All crusty old Lynn can come up with is a John Street-esque passing of the buck by claiming she's petitioned the state judiciary to assign certain judges to police districts, which does nothing for the ADA's trying the case.
As for the FOP, I saw their Williams for DA banner today and all I could think was that this made up for that Marty Weinberg nonsense in '99.
Posted by: EJ | May 09, 2005 at 02:37 PM