To the editor: The incumbent commonwealth’s attorney for Arlington and Falls Church has resorted to false claims about her opponent in the Democratic primary to win re-election.
In a recent mailing featuring images of elephants, she states: “We can’t let Josh Katcher and his Republican allies trample all over our criminal-justice system.”
What an odd claim for her to make about the person she promoted to serve as deputy commonwealth’s attorney, prosecuting the most serious cases in her office, supervising line attorneys and training junior attorneys.
Katcher left after 11 years of service and then chose to run for commonwealth’s attorney to restore the effectiveness and integrity of the office, which has lost more than half its attorneys in the last year.
That exodus has been fueled in part by a lack of leadership, with the incumbent not having tried a single case since becoming commonwealth’s attorney. Office policies, such as not trying any juveniles as adults for even the most serious crimes, have contributed to the fact that many attorney positions in the office remain vacant.
Current and former Democratic officials and community leaders have endorsed Katcher because he has the respect of the legal and law-enforcement communities and the judgment based on years of experience that are needed to be a fair and effective commonwealth’s attorney.
The incumbent’s lack of these qualities is the elephant in the room.
Abby Raphael, Arlington
Raphael is a former assistant commonwealth’s attorney and later served two terms on the School Board.
