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Interview the district attorney
By adamg on Mon, 06/25/2007 - 9:06am
Question time is closed. Now it's time to pick the five questions to pose to the DA.
You're in a room with Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. He's waiting for your questions. So what would you ask him?
Here's your chance. We're going to experiment with a public interview, where you, not some reporter, decides what to ask. Conley has agreed to take your questions in this format:
Over the next couple of days, post possible questions as a reply here. I'll pick what seem like 10 good questions. Then we'll vote on the questions - the top five most popular ones will get submitted to Conley. He'll have next week to come up with answers, which I'll post on July 9 - and which you'll then be able to discuss.
The only request Conley made was: No questions on specific cases. But that still leaves plenty of other areas to ask him about. For example: Violent crime; gangs; murder conviction rates; witness intimidation; gun control; a shortage of jurors; the death penalty. I'm sure you can come up with other topics.
To get you started with some ideas, here are some links:
Official bio
Another bio
Letting the DA skate - Critical piece in the Phoenix.
Issues:
Bill tries to stem teens' threats to witnesses
Juror shortage in Boston
Latest Boston crime stats
Boston to press Congress for tougher gun laws
25 alleged Boston gang members charged with gun, drug offenses.
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Comments
Children in adult courts
What do you intend to do to stop the barbaric (worse than the death penalty!) practice of trying children in adult courts? Every attempt should be made to rehabilitate youthful offenders, not only because it is moral and right, but also because it is lest costly to society.
so trying a juvenile (16yrs)
so trying a juvenile (16yrs) in adult court for shooting a person is worse than the death penalty? so you would rather a 16yr old be executed than spend 5yrs in prison?
What do you feel is the
What do you feel is the major reason behind the increase of this city's homicide rate?
Intimidation and Terrorism
Is intimidating an entire community with threats of violence so that you can get away with murder a form of terrorism?
More people are murdered in our cities every year than Osama Bin Laden killed on 9/11. Is selling a "Stop Snitching" t-shirt comparable to collaborating with al-Qaeda?
Civic Responsibiilties and Rights
Jury duty is the civic responsibility most broadly shirked. This is why we are running out of jurors. Would it be possible to link this civic responsibiilty with other civic rights in order to improve compliance? For example, if you can't get somebody who supposedly lives at a certain address to respond to a summons to jury duty, should that person be allowed to retain their resident parking sticker?
2 questions
I have two questions for District Attorney Conley.
My first question is generally speaking, does/should a charge relating to hoax devices require that the person intend for it to cause a panic/scare? Is there a mens rea element to this, and if so, is it purposefully? Knowingly?
As for my second question, I was wondering if District Attorney Conley would be willing to outline a little of the hiring process for joining the DA's office. (Because despite the somewhat pro-defense bent of my earlier question, I will be a 3L this Fall, and I am interested in potentially applying to his office for post-grad employment!) What does his office look for? What is the timeline as to when applicants should apply? Lastly, and I hope this isn't gauche for me to ask, but how does advancement and salary work in your office? It is my understanding that the starting salary of an ADA is around $35,000. What are the potentials for advancement beyond this?
Thank you for agreeing to speak with us!
Question for the DA
What can I do personally to help bring down the crime in the Boston area? There has got to be someway of getting involved. Shootings, stabbings, and beatings are filling the pages of the newspapers, blogs, and airwaves. I am beginning to feel like the only sane person in a sea of lunatics.
Jury duty and stuff....
1. Would you ever consider letting Permanent Residents serve on juries, especially if they have already started the official citizenship process?
2. What can I do to keep the violent crime (shootings, stabbings, etc.)from encroaching on my little part of the neighborhood? (Because it seems to be getting closer and closer to my street.
3. How exactly do the Guardian Angels work with the police in an attempt to curb crime in Boston? Are they really helping? (I have nothing against them, I'm just curious.)
Jury Nullification
What are your feelings concerning the concept of jury nullification?
In the United States, it is possible for a juror to not convict based on his or her conscience concerning the crime in question. For instance, if a person serving on a jury felt that certain drug laws and the penalties proscribed for the breaking of same were draconian, that person could return a verdict of "not guilty" even though the evidence of guilt was truly overwhelming.
Currently, jurors are almost never informed of their rights concerning nullification and a judge's instructions may, indeed, specifically imply that such a right does not exist.
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions!
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Well.....
"How exactly do the Guardian Angels work with the police in an attempt to curb crime in Boston? Are they really helping? (I have nothing against them, I'm just curious.)"
The Guardian Angels came here to Boston, at least in part because they weren't wanted down in NYC.
That says something right there, imo. Frankly, those guys really don't know what they're doing, and they're not helping much, imo.
Murder acquittal rate
It seems to be going up in Suffolk County. You've been critical of juries in some murder cases that have voted to acquit, but is the fault with the juries or the evidence presented to them?
Enforcement of Open Meeting Law
Why does your office not prosecute violations of the Open Meeting Law?Or, if you don't have the resources to devote to such prosecutions, how about providing some advice and assistance to the citizens who are willing to take up the cause of transparency in government?