DA candidates answer voter questions

by Lori R. Cooper

A forum for Monroe County District Attorney candidates was held on Saturday, April 1, at the Eastern Monroe Public Library in Stroudsburg. It was hosted by The Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania and Monroe County PA NAACP. It was a full house.

Democratic candidates Michael Mancuso, currently first assistant DA, and Donald Leeth, Assistant DA from 1999-2013, were questioned by moderator Christa Caceres, President of the NAACP.

Each candidate got an opportunity to introduce themselves. Mancuso noted that he had prosecuted more murderers than any other DA in Monroe County, and began the Overdose Initiative and Elder Abuse Task Force.

Leeth stated, “We have the opportunity for meaningful change in Monroe County. Our criminal justice system is broken. We need to give resources to the police force. We can and must do better than this.”

Questions were asked about the juvenile justice system and diversion and mentoring to first time offenders. Leeth noted that there are diversionary programs but the DAs just want to “pass the buck.” He believes in giving juveniles a second chance. DA Mancuso responded there is “a crisis in the sheer number of cases they are getting” and advocates for Juvenile Probation Officers in the schools. He stated that “It is important to gain trust of the community…through transparency and open lines of communication.”

Mancuso explained the core function of the DA’s office is “oversight of the criminal justice system on the prosecutors end, See DA FORUM, page 5

DA Forum

Continued from page 4 investigative function and guidance to lawenforcement.” Leeth responded, “The most valuable part of the DA is to seek justice and justice is protecting the community while building trust.”

A question was asked about the disparities of black/white crime. Mancuso presented data that 7% more Blacks are incarcerated and that is worthy of inquiry. Leeth got a round of applause when noting, “It’s worthy of inquiring the disproportionate amount of Blacks that go to state prisons, get higher bails and it’s time to stop racial profiling.”

Dr. Nancy Williams , NAACP, asked questions from the public about data gathering, transparency

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and new initiatives . Mancuso noted that they were getting body cams for police which will help with transparency. He also noted that he got a gun violence reduction grant and has a law enforcement treatment initiative to empower diversion of low level cases. Leeth quickly responded that that program had been in place since 2018.

Mancuso noted that he helped create a countywide response to Domestic Violence , created the Overdose Fatality Review Team and developed a Law Enforcement Treatment Initiative. Moderator Caceres kept the candidates on track and stopped topics from getting heated.