OP: Good summary of the State Attorney debates for Orange Cty, FL
This is an important issue because both, Seminole and Orange County are dogged by good ole boy law enforcement (IMHO)
State Attorney Charade?
snip
...What seemed to emerge from the debate is heightened suspicion that Republican Joerg Jaeger is in the race to help incumbent Lawson Lamar in his primary race against two other Democrats, Jeff Ashton of Casey Anthony notoriety and former prosecutor Ryan Williams.
During the debate defense attorney Jaeger repeatedly went on the attack against Democrat Ashton, calling him out in particular for his role in the Casey Anthony prosecution. Meanwhile, Jaeger offered praise for Lamar’s administration, lauding it for having the “guts” to prosecute Osceola Clerk of Courts Malcom Thompson (Lamar’s office lost both cases against Thompson). Like Lamar, Jaeger waved off the 9th circuit’s low conviction rate as statistical blathering.
And then, this morning’s Sentinel story revealed that Jaeger until recently was a donor and fundraiser for Lamar. It makes sense that Lamar would be better off having someone else criticize Ashton. After all, Ashton worked for Lamar as a prosecutor. If Lamar thought Ashton wasn’t highly qualified he should have fired or demoted him instead of entrusting Ashton with the highest-profile case to come along in decades.
By the way, Jaeger also had a decidedly un-Republican point of view in advocating civil service protections for prosecutors to shield them from political retribution. You know, like the civil service protections that federal employees enjoy. Lamar could be seen nodding his head vigorously as Jaeger promoted civil service protections.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/orlando_opinionators/2012/05/state-attorney-charade.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+orlandosentinel%2Forlando_opinionators+%28Orlando+Opinionators%29
