he do to our State?
October 6, 2006
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Joseph Gillis Jr.
You can do something!
When someone without political history runs for office, it can be difficult to effectively judge their skills and ability to perform in a potential elected role. The voters are left to review past actions, statements and involvement for clues on qualifications.
This past week has been especially troublesome for Deval Patrick and his involvement in parole actions on behalf of Benjamin LaGuer. As a civil rights lawyer, the public would expect him to argue in court, write legal position papers, and champion for certain causes. However, the following statements are alarming:
"I can't say I studied the record with care."
"The issue that came to my attention at the time was the fairness of his trial and particularly the fairness of the jury deliberations."
The key to this is that Deval did not write opinions or argue for a new trial, but that he sought an early parole for a man he never met. How could Deval have any opinion of LaGuer's readiness to return to society? Again, Deval did not petition for a new trial or a review of some fact, he argued to release a criminal.
Quite simply, is this the type of person we believe is best qualified to lead our State? Do we want a person making decisions without checking on pertinent facts? Would Deval break former Governor Dukakis's record of 44 murder commutations? (Thanks Howie Carr for that interesting fact.)
