The Flathead Valley’s Leading Independent Journal of Observation, Analysis, & Opinion

 

22 September 2011

Just how bloodthirsty are Montana’s Attorney General Candidates?

Troy Davis is dead, killed legally by the state of Georgia last night despite profound doubts about the fairness of his trial and the quality of the evidence against him — doubts found credible by no less than former President (and governor of Georgia) Jimmy Carter and retired FBI chief William Sessions. Davis deserved a new trial, as did the people of Georgia, but in the end neither justice nor morality nor humanity mattered, and the executioner had his day.

The debate now turns from Troy Davis to the wisdom of the death penalty itself, an issue that will appear, or should appear, in many campaigns for public office.

One campaign is for Montana’s Attorney General, an office now held by Democrat Steve Bullock who is vacating the position to run for Governor of Montana. To my knowledge, no Republican has yet announced a bid for the office, although Tim Fox seems likely to run. But two Democrats — Jesse Laslovich and Pam Bucy — have announced for the office, and at least one is a hang-’em-high prosecutor.

As a state senator, Laslovich in 2009 voted against Senate Bill 236, which would have repealed Montana’s death penalty. He voted against it on the second and third readings in the senate after voting for it in committee. SB-236 died in committee in the house.

If Pam Bucy has a position on the death penalty, she’s kept it well hidden. I used the contact form on her website to ask whether she supports or opposes the death penalty, but she stiff-armed my inquiry. If she opposes the death penalty, I think she would have told me so. And it’s hard to imagine she would have received the following endorsements without supporting the death penalty:

  • Mellissa Broch, Deputy Lewis and Clark County Attorney
  • Jim Cashell, Gallatin County Sheriff
  • Carolyn Clemens, Deputy Lewis and Clark County Attorney
  • Leo Dutton, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff
  • Jed Fitch, Beaverhead County Attorney
  • Leo Gallagher, Lewis and Clark County Attorney
  • Dave Jeseritz, Helena Asst. Police Chief
  • Jimm Kilmer, Butte-Silver Bow Deputy Sheriff, Treasurer Montana Police Protective Association
  • Brett Linneweber, Park County Attorney
  • Jerome McCarthy, Butte-Silver Bow Deputy Sheriff
  • Dennis McCave, Yellowstone County Deputy Sheriff
  • Tony McDonnell, President Montana Police Protective Association, Kalispell Police Department
  • Troy McGee, Helena Chief of Police & Bucy Campaign Treasurer
  • Mark Muir, Missoula Police Chief
  • John Parker, Cascade County Attorney
  • Rich St. John, Billings Chief of Police
  • Tim Shanks, Captain, Great Falls Police
  • Truman Tolson, Missoula Police Officer, Past President of the Montana Police Protective Association
  • Col. Mike Tooley, Montana Highway Patrol
  • Ron Tussing, Former Billings Police Chief
  • Derek Vanluchene, former Division of Criminal Investigation Agent
  • John Walsh, Butte-Silver Bow Sheriff
  • Jerry Williams, Executive Director Montana Police Protective Association, Retired Butte-Silver Bow Police Office

That's an impressive list — and a list of law enforcement types who should stick to law enforcement and stop dabbling in politics. Their endorsements are legal, but the mere fact that they can make them underscores how electing attorney generals and judges politicizes our criminal justice system. It's an ugly system, and Bucy's shameless exploitation of it will not earn her an endorsement from this website.