The hard truth about the race for Denver district attorney is that either of the two legal eagles vying for the post in the June 25 Democratic primary would be a big improvement over the current occupant.
Indeed — with all due respect for both of the eminently qualified contenders — just about any member of the local bar probably would be more effective than two-term DA Beth McCann. When she announced last July she wouldn’t seek a third term, it was welcome news.
McCann never had a stomach for the crime fight. Among her wide-ranging lapses and shortcomings in office, she all too often has used her tenure as Denver’s top prosecutor to advance the same reckless and naive “justice reform” agenda that has driven soft-on-crime legislation at the Capitol in recent years. In place of stiff penalties, she has touted feel-good “restorative justice.” Rather than keep high-risk suspects with lengthy criminal records behind bars pending court proceedings — so they can’t menace the community — she has shown a preference for easy-release, personal-recognizance bonds.
The bottom line is she is soft on crime — in a city buffeted for years by an epic crime wave.
Denver voters are entitled to expect much more of their next DA — and either candidate on the primary ballot is likely to deliver. Longtime prosecutor Leora Joseph and former U.S. Attorney John Walsh are widely respected, smart, seasoned crime fighters with decades of experience bringing wrongdoers to justice. Each has won endorsements from distinguished members of the legal community as well as from prominent politicos.
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Our editorial board interviewed each candidate in depth and was impressed. Joseph impressed us more, however, as the candidate most apt to renew Denver’s crime fight with vigor — a mission that has meandered for years on McCann’s watch.
That’s why The Gazette editorial board recommends a vote for Leora Joseph for Denver district attorney on the June 25 Democratic mail ballot.
In our interview, Joseph expressed a thoroughgoing commitment to change at a time when it is so urgently needed. She displayed a resolve to hit the reset button, hard, at the DA’s office and to refocus its mission.
“I am running on change. I am not endorsed by the current administration,” she told our editorial board. “Ignoring crime is never the answer to anything….I feel strongly about holding people accountable.”
While Walsh has a good feel for the war on crime at the federal level, Joseph served as a prosecutor in DA’s offices for 20 years. Much of that time was in leadership roles — both in Colorado’s largest judicial district, the 18th, and before that in Boston. She knows the urban crime fight at the local level, which is what Denver needs most.
Joseph, like Walsh, said a priority is working closely with police — with whom McCann by most accounts has had poor relations. It’s noteworthy that Joseph won the endorsement of the Denver Police Protective Association.
In seeking “more alignment,” Joseph says, between the DA’s office and the police, she wants to look at best practices among the nation’s DAs to implement the most effective approaches to prosecution. That includes Boston’s prosecution model, where homicides have plummeted.
Add to that Joseph’s extensive work on mental illness and substance abuse — rampant among Denver’s street population — which she’ll employ in getting courts to move more lawbreakers into needed treatment.
No Republican is running for DA in Democrat-dominant Denver, so the victor in the primary will be the next district attorney. Whoever prevails will face the daunting responsibility of getting Denver’s crime fight back on track. That’s overdue.
There’s a lot of lost ground to make up. Denver’s besieged residents need a break from crime. The DA must have their back.
Denver Gazette Editorial Board
