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Letter: Dehghani-Tafti does not merit a second term in office

'The potential danger to public safety is more important than politics'
letter-to-editor

To the editor: I served as the elected clerk of the Circuit Court of Arlington County and the city of Falls Church for more than 30 years (1976-2008). I was in charge of administering the criminal cases (mostly felonies) that came before the Court in that period of time.

I have served as president of the Arlington Young Democrats, deputy chair of the Arlington County Democratic Committee, co-chaired several Democratic Joint Campaigns and am an original member of the Roosevelt/Obama Society.

In more than 50 years of loyalty to the Arlington Democratic Party, I have never before failed to support a Democratic incumbent for office, and regret that I must do so now.

Parisa Dehghani-Tafti appears to be a solid Democrat and I am sure is a good person. Unfortunately, in my opinion, she is NOT suited by skill, experience or inclination to be the commonwealth’s attorney.

I have known every commonwealth’s attorney in this jurisdiction since 1971 –some more progressive and some more conservative than others. All of them had in common that they were experienced trial lawyers and actual prosecutors of crime. Ms. Dehghani-Tafti is neither. She appears to not even aspire to be a trial lawyer, as she has never tried a case since becoming commonwealth’s attorney more than three years ago.

The argument – posited by, among others, the public defender – that actual crime is not increasing in Arlington is inaccurate, since in most instances if the commonwealth’s attorney will not agree to prosecute charges, no crime has occurred (statistically).

Anyone who reads the papers, watches the news on TV or listens to their neighbors knows that crime is on the increase. That is not to say that Ms. Dehghani-Tafti is totally at fault, since at least some of it is a national trend, but it is terrifying to have a prosecutor neither equipped nor inclined to do much about it.

Her statement in campaign advertising that Arlington “City” is now “safe” is ridiculous. First of all, Arlington is not a “city” (proof that her resources come from those not at all familiar with Arlington COUNTY, Va.) and further, Arlington County has to my observation been a relatively safe jurisdiction for more than 50 years.  Touting the fact that “no one has gone to jail for simple possession of marijuana” as your biggest accomplishment (especially when the General Assembly has made possession legal anyway) is hardly the stuff of which actual prosecutors of crime are made.

Not only has she lost half of her staff of assistant commonwealth’s attorneys during her tenure, but many of the ones that remained are lacking in training and experience and are losing cases in open court on a level not previously seen in this jurisdiction.

Ms. Dehghani-Tafti’s plea-bargain agreements worked out with defense counsel are often so lenient that the judges refuse to accept them. Her response to this is to sue the judges in the appellate courts of Virginia for having the audacity to challenge her judgment.

There is nothing wrong with the prosecutor being compassionate toward a defendant. What is wrong is offering a written plea bargain agreement to a judge that does not set forth all the facts in the case and is based upon not progressive judgment, but no judgment at all. I believe that every judge that sits in the Arlington County Court House has at least as much experience – and no doubt better judgement – than Ms. Dehghani-Tafti.

Josh Katcher, on the other hand, will have the ability to work with judges, police officers, deputy sheriffs, probation officers and all involved in the criminal-justice system. Unlike Dehghani-Tafti, he is an actual trial lawyer and prosecutor. He served as an assistant both under Dehghani-Tafti and her predecessor, Theo Stamos. His resume, both as a prosecutor and a Democrat, is impeccable. His financial support comes from the local community. The bulk of Ms. Dehghani-Tafti’s money, and I suspect it will come in huge amounts at the last minute, is from a liberal PAC funded by George Soros. (Most progressives that I know think that ought not even be legal.)

Those full-color glossy ads touting her and condemning Katcher are expensive, and you can expect to see a lot of them in your mailbox, compliments of the PAC. This is how she defeated Ms. Stamos in the first place. A total of $800,000 is an obscene amount of money to overcome in a constitutional-officer primary. I would think a person claiming to be an enlightened progressive would be ashamed.

I am aware that many incumbent Democratic elected officials have endorsed Dehghani-Tafti’s re-election. Most of them are friends of mine. She is, after all, the Democratic incumbent.

I do not take my stand this lightly. The potential danger to public safety is more important than politics.

David A. Bell, Arlington