There is a balance to be met when determining who should go to jail and who should be given a second chance. The majority of hardened criminals are not “good people” as Champagne says, and are repeat offenders who flunked the restorative justice opportunity.

Champagne mentions Lammons’ association with a former district attorney, Craig Westberg, as if it were a bad thing. Westberg was a hard worker who took cases to trial. His team handled cases in court rather than plea bargaining everything.

We have great drug investigators who often catch dealers and distributors of hard drugs such as meth, heroin and prescription drugs. More often than not, these cases are dismissed or pleaded down, and we are constantly dealing with the same repeat offender on the street, selling drugs to our children and endangering the lives of everyone.

The Fraternal order of Police supports Ben Lammons for a reason. Its members see a need for change and are tired of not getting support from the district attorney. The countless assaults on peace officers that have occurred in this district are more than many of you are aware of. Instead of giving those people the maximum sentence, they routinely plead it down, leaving the officer feeling like their lives are not valuable.

Vote for Ben Lammons.

Peyton Johnson

Durango