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Seth Williams and the Chance to Transform our Justice System
Submitted by Dan U-A on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 12:15am.
Tomorrow we will have some details about the fundraiser that a bunch of us are having for Seth Williams. (If interested in getting involved, email me at danielua@gmail.com.) But, before we do that, I thought that I would talk about why I think this race is so important, and why a candidate like Seth is someone that we cannot pass up.
First, Seth is at the most basic level, a fundamentally good person. This is not someone who came late to public service. Seth joined Facebook recently, and all of a sudden all these pictures popped up of a skinny dude named Seth, at age 20, with questionable fashion sense and a full head of hair. And what was he doing? Leading. He was the first African-American to be president of the Penn State student body, where he led a march from Happy Valley to Harrisburg, to protest Pennsylvania's investments in apartheid South Africa. He then was a public interest scholar in law school, and returned to Philly to serve in the DA’s office. He is a neighborhood activist, a little league coach, involved in his church, and a reservist in the JAG.
Second, Seth, who knows the DA's office well, after spending years there, would bring a sea change to the Philadelphia justice system. He is intelligent, hard working and progressive, and wants to prevent crime as much as prosecute it. He will end high rates of recidivism and through community based prosecution, he will send his ADA's into the communities of our city, so that they are not so much attorneys in a center city firm who happen to prosecute someone, but instead members of the communities in which they will serve.
Seth is, simply, the real deal. He ran a progressive, insurgent campaign in 2005 where he was badly outspent by a then 14-year incumbent, but yet still got 46 percent of the vote. He refused, over and over, to exploit the fragile racial fault lines that run through our city, and ran a campaign based on ideas, on policies, and on appealing to our aspirations as a city, not our fears.
Now, as the front runner in 2009, Seth could easily run in a 'safe' manner, relying on his name recognition or reputation to help him win. However, the same guy is back, loudly and forcefully trying to move Philadelphia's justice system into the 21st century. Candidates like him don't come around often, and yet, through his hard work at the DA's office, as a candidate, and at the Inspector General's office, he is the favorite. If he wins this thing, he will deliver a seismic change to our justice system. His candidacy presents an opportunity we cannot pass by.
And besides, I heard Ben Franklin endorsed him like 30 years ago.
More soon.
WANT
I totally owned a pair of those red/blue striped socks in '79.
I love how multi-culti this is. Ben Franklin looks angry, though. Would you let a guy in period dress stand arm-in-arm with your kid today? No.
Here you go, Mithras.
http://store.americanapparel.net/rsasklw.html#i
EDIT: Whoops, thought you said you totally "WANTED" a pair of those socks. Ignore my benevolence.
Anyway, sticking on topic - great endorsement.
---
- All politics is local.
It was the OIG duty to investigate Environmental Crime
Seth, You said it was beyond your abilities to investigate the dumping of toxins behind my house by the Anastasi Masonry Corp., now in Pompano Florida. Toxins dumped into a stream that carries it off the construction site may have created a toxic plume. Remember Love Canal. Bronx, All over. If you want to be a good DA , you are going to have to realize that toxic environments are the cause of much crime. Also you need open transparency with the neighbors and protect the neighbors first.
Neighborhood toxins are deadly weapons and they are all over Philadelphia causing illness and crime and learning disability. Are you going to ignore these crimes that hurt people? This stuff goes on all over the city and is ignored. The city is allowed to hurt people by breaking any kind of environmental law it wants if it's tied to a special construction project.
It was simple. Remove people to safety and have open communication with the stakeholders-- meaning the people that live there are and are most affected . You do not cover up toxic dirt and contaminated groundwater from neighbors. That is a crime.
Migration by air took those toxins all over the neighborhood and when the dirty dirt was trucked out, it dropped all over the street. The neighbors were never informed or protected from the hazards. When I made a simple request to have information about the hazards or fugitive dust and the Air Management Regulations distributed to the neighbors, I was ignored.
Nation wide , it IS the duty of the both the inspector General and the DA to investigate and make sure environmental and brownfield laws are up held. Zoning approvals that fail to fully report and openly discuss environmental hazards with the neighbors that are affected is illegal.
I hope you recognize that a healthy environment is the FIRST defense against crime. How many schools are built next to or on brownfields? No wonder our kids have so many problems.
Preventative measures against crime work best. I really hope you can listen to the real people of this city and read up on Environmental Justice Issues.
I also think that Restorative Justice is an idea whose time has come. Google and Read about the concepts. If this city government can't evolve with the rest of the country . well- its okay-- because the people of Philadelphia love a revolution.
Margaret Motheral
Philadelphia Area Office
Name of Task Force Philadelphia Environmental Crimes Task Force
Geographic Area Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Telephone Number (215) 814-2360
Frequency of Meetings Quarterly
Participants Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Department of Transportation, Office of the Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Office of Agriculture, City of Philadelphia Air Management Section, City of Philadelphia Fire Department
Who is that scary Ben Franklin?
That does not look like an endorsement!
Sometimes I think this archival photo thing can go too far. Sriusly.
He was pissed 'cause it
He was pissed 'cause it would take 30 years.
When is Seth going to
When is Seth going to publish the issues and where he stands on each one in his web page? since he's been running on this since 2005 you would think it's a "done" deal... or is he waiting for all the others to fill in their blanks first ? where's his leadership? pls. don't blame IT or admins
They need to do it, no
They need to do it, no question. I am sure it is coming. They announced only a couple weeks ago though, so, even though he knew he was going to run, there is still something to be said for getting a campaign up and running.
I strongly suspect that his ideas will define the race.