{"id":37817,"date":"2022-10-15T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/our-view-elect-weiser-to-finish-ag-work\/"},"modified":"2022-10-15T10:30:00","modified_gmt":"2022-10-15T10:30:00","slug":"our-view-elect-weiser-to-finish-ag-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/our-view-elect-weiser-to-finish-ag-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Our View: Elect Weiser to finish AG work"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Crime \u2013 specifically car thefts \u2013 continually comes up in Colorado\u2019s attorney general race, particularly from the Republican side. Democratic incumbent state Attorney General Phil Weiser and Republican challenger John Kellner, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, field the question, how would you reduce crime?<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t the best question. Yes, an attorney general can work to establish stiffer penalties. But Colorado\u2019s attorney general is the state\u2019s<\/em> lawyer. It does not supervise law enforcement. Its public safety role is limited. The relationship with law enforcement is closer to a partnership.<\/p>\n

Reducing crime means more police officers on the street, first and foremost. Train and fund them well. Elect district attorneys with the skill and discretion to prove cases beyond a reasonable doubt. Judges should hand out sentences to deter defendants properly convicted.<\/p>\n

As it is, open positions for cops remain all over Colorado. Still, the question keeps coming.<\/p>\n

So consider, do you want an attorney general with refined appellate lawyering skills \u2013 Weiser \u2013 or one campaigning as a crime fighter \u2013 Kellner? Because the job is all about winning appellate arguments \u2013 the major criminal justice role here \u2013 and defending state law. This is the highest priority.<\/p>\n

Urgent court decisions \u2013 whether upheld or reversed \u2013 will have more to do with other matters, such as the Reproductive Health Equity Act, civil rights, consumer rights and fraud, public access to health care, water in the West, pollution and voting rights. (Weiser argued nicely an election integrity case in our nation\u2019s highest court.) An attorney general has agency over these kinds of lawsuits. An attorney general defends the rights of all Colorado citizens.<\/p>\n

We know, for example, Weiser would defend the Reproductive Health Equity Act. But would Kellner? He\u2019s been silent on abortion access, although he\u2019s apparently personally pro-life. We don\u2019t know how he\u2019d argue and follow Colorado law. If local ordinances curb abortion access, the AG must defend state law. Imminent lawsuits are likely. Our state abortion law will be tested.<\/p>\n

This is one reason we are endorsing Weiser. He takes a broad view to the job, more than just crime. And isn\u2019t basing his campaign on fear.<\/p>\n

Weiser has advanced gun safety measures, addressed the school-to-prison pipeline and worked to provide treatment for Coloradans who struggle with mental health challenges or substance use. He\u2019s passionate about more \u201cemotional intelligence\u201d training for police officers. By the time cases land in court, whatever went down with police is too late to change.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also knee-deep studying litigation on the Colorado River compact.<\/p>\n

Kellner is also sharp and hardworking. We expect his star to rise, especially among GOP ranks. He\u2019s all about service. A Marine Corps vet, he\u2019s passionate about supporting law enforcement.<\/p>\n

Kellner\u2019s district includes most of Aurora, and all of Douglas, Elbert, Lincoln and Arapahoe counties. Crime is terrible in Aurora but we certainly don\u2019t blame Kellner.<\/p>\n

No doubt, Colorado\u2019s overall crime rate has spiked because of incidents on the Front Range \u2013 Denver, Colorado Springs and Aurora \u2013 more than other communities. In the nation, Colorado had the highest car theft rate \u2013 mostly in Denver \u2013 in 2021, with 661.21 thefts per 100,000 people. Crazy!<\/p>\n

Crime and public safety are prominent in this election. But let\u2019s get straight on what a state attorney general can \u2013 and can\u2019t \u2013 do and keep politics out of it. Let\u2019s keep Weiser to finish the work started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2013 specifically car thefts \u2013 continually comes up in Colorado\u2019s attorney general race, particularly from the Republican side. Democratic incumbent state Attorney General Phil Weiser and Republican challenger John Kellner, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, field the question, how would you reduce crime? But this isn\u2019t the best question. Yes, an attorney […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[125],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-37817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-newsletter-opinion"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37817"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=37817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}