Editor’s note: these are the candidate’s responses to questions provided by RIPR. The views expressed are the candidate’s alone, edited only in cases of inappropriate or libelous language. No changes have been made to correct errors of fact, spelling or grammar.
Does the candidate support criminal justice reform – if so, in what ways?
To me, criminal justice reform means taking a “smart,” three-part approach, focused on three equally important areas: prevention, focused enforcement, and prisoner re-entry. This was the approach we implemented nationwide, with bipartisan support, when I was U.S. Attorney during the Obama Administration.
Crime prevention takes multiple forms, and requires engagement across government. If elected Attorney General, I’ll make sure that the Office engages communities – we’ll be in the community on a scheduled, regular basis, not only assisting residents with everyday quality of life issues, but, along with our community partners, acting as positive role models for young people. Residents will know their Attorney General, and the members of the Office. I’ll create a community advisory board that will help inform crime prevention and other law-enforcement policy. And I’ll strongly support diversion programs that give young, non-violent offenders at a fork in the road the chance to make it right, avoiding the contact with the criminal justice system that is so hard to come back from.
Focused enforcement means directing our efforts at those who are truly driving our most serious criminal conduct. Law enforcement knows who the “shooters” are. When I was U.S. Attorney, we created the Urban Violent Crime Initiative with our law enforcement partners, and built cases against some of the state’s most violent offenders. Removing these comparatively few violent criminals from urban neighborhoods can significantly reduce violent crime, not only by virtue of the fact that they’re gone, but also because their ability to influence others, particularly young people, is eliminated. At the same time, if elected I’ll make sure our handling of cases involving non-violent offenders makes sense, and that charging and sentencing recommendations are fair and appropriate given the conduct and individual characteristics of the defendant involved.
Prisoner re-entry is the third, and equally important part of an effective criminal justice strategy. If elected Attorney General, I’ll use the full power of the Office to advocate for effective re-entry programs, as I did when I was U.S. Attorney. I’ll continue to work to make sure that people coming home from prison have opportunities to join the workforce. With the exception of roughly thirty people at the ACI serving life without parole, everyone incarcerated there is coming home at some point. If we don’t get them back into the workforce, and fast, there’s a high likelihood they’re going back to prison. That’s not good for anybody: them, their victim, and the public that bears the high economic cost of their re-incarceration.
Would you prioritise rehabilitation over prosecution in drug crimes?
As with violent crime, an effective drug strategy requires a multi-faceted approach. It is not news that Rhode Island, along with the rest of the country, is in the midst of an opioid crisis, with devastating effect in every city and town and across all age groups. Effectively interdicting shipments of narcotics to Rhode Island, and prosecuting significant drug traffickers with links to international drug trafficking organizations, is critical, and should be the principal focus of our law enforcement efforts. People who come into contact with the criminal justice system and merely possess drugs for their own use, suffering from addiction, need to be steered to effective rehabilitation as quickly possible.
We are not going to prosecute our way out of the opioid crisis. Prevention, and access to affordable treatment for those addicted, are equally important. There is an important advocacy role here for the next Attorney General, as there was when I was U.S. Attorney. For example, when I was U.S. Attorney, we worked with Brown Medical School and the URI School of Pharmacy to put on a conference for doctors and other prescribers regarding safe prescribing practices. When I was U.S. Attorney, we worked with our prevention partners to encourage prevention efforts and advocate for affordable and accessible treatment, hosting town halls around the state. With those same partners, we made 28 high school visits during the 2016-2017 school year, both before and after I resigned as U.S. Attorney, speaking to over 10,000 students about making smart choices and how they can help with this public health crisis. If elected Attorney General, I’ll build on those relationships, and that work.
If elected, what will be the candidate’s top three priorities?
I believe that the work that we did when I was U.S. Attorney is critically important to our state. We fought public corruption, took on the opioid crisis, emphasized a smart, effective approach to criminal justice, protected the environment, and stood up for consumers and workers. I’m running for Attorney General because I believe that that work isn’t finished.
Rhode Island has a well-earned reputation for political corruption, and that reputation is holding this state back economically and in other ways. During my nearly eight years as U.S. Attorney, I made public corruption our top priority, and we brought case after case against politicians who violated their oath, including three North Providence City councilmen, the mayor of Central Falls, the House Finance Chair, and the Speaker of the House, putting every one of them in a federal prison. It’s inevitable that there will be more public integrity work to do, and if elected, I’ll be ready to do it.
As mentioned, the next Attorney General has to prioritize and fight the opioid crisis that is killing so many Rhode Islanders. And if elected, I’ll prioritize and continue the work we did when I was U.S. Attorney, with our partners, to take on the scourge of child sex trafficking, and build an effective support network for child victims.
If elected, I’ll also prioritize development of a strategy — a real strategy — to address violent crime in our neighborhoods. We can’t go back thirty years in time and say we’re going to lock everybody up for as long as possible. It’s too expensive and it won’t work. That’s why we need a “smart” approach to reducing violent crime, by focusing on those who are truly driving it. Young people that we can get turned around, we need to get turned around. Alternative sentencing programs like diversion work, and we need to use them. As mentioned, prevention and re-entry are as critical to reducing crime as prosecution and incarceration.
If elected, I’ll use the power of the Office’s civil division to protect the people of Rhode Island, like we did when I was U.S. Attorney and forced Google to stop assisting off-shore pharmacies unlawfully selling unsafe opioids to U.S. internet buyers and recovering 500 million dollars, of which 230 million were returned to Rhode Island to benefit taxpayers here. We’ll bring the kinds of cases we brought when I was U.S. Attorney to recover wasted taxpayer money, protect consumers, protect the environment, and enforce civil rights.
Specifics aside, I believe, based on my twenty-plus years of experience as a state and federal prosecutor, including nearly eight years as U.S. Attorney, that the next Attorney General must be guided by the following fundamental principles. Exercise smart, independent judgment. Advocate for all Rhode Islanders. Be a great partner with others, public and private, in building a safer, more resilient Rhode Island. And be accessible to, and engaged with, all of the communities and constituencies the Office serves.
