18TH Judicial District DA candidates Padden & Maillaro debate

18th Judicial District DA candidates Padden and Maillaro debate

BY FREDA MIKLIN- GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER

On June 18, the Douglas County Democratic Party sponsored a debate between Amy Padden and Matt Maillaro, candidates in the Democratic primary for 18th Judicial District Attorney on June 30. The Republican candidate is John Kellner. Maillaro is currently an assistant district attorney in the 18th Judicial District. Padden is a deputy district attorney in the 5th judicial district. Their websites are mattmaillaro.com and amypadden.com, where you can find additional information about their experience and endorsements. Before the debate, a video was shown to demonstrate that “the most powerful person in the criminal justice system is the locally elected prosecutor,” because 97 percent of all criminal cases are resolved via a plea bargain that the prosecutor negotiates and approves. Before that happens, it is up to the prosecutor to make the most basic decisions, who is charged, and with what crime. Maillaro said in his opening statement that he had plans to make changes to “increase public safety, increase fairness, and rebuild our community.” He said we need a plan to get people out of jail who are awaiting trial and can’t afford bail and increased use of diversion including mental health diversion. Padden said that “people are demanding real reform and it is time for a real change.” She described the experience of clerking for a federal district judge in Washington, D.C., when mandatory sentencing guidelines required that three-time crack cocaine offenders are given life sentences and, said Padden, “My judge just wouldn’t have it. After one too many young black men appeared in front of him, he said, “I’m not going to do it anymore…We’re going to write an opinion declaring the sentencing guidelines unconstitutional and you’re going to write the first draft.” She continued, “That affected my view of the criminal justice system from the time I was a very young attorney. We know that the war on drugs failed. We know that the criminal justice system isn’t equitable and it’s damaging young men, particularly young black men, and it’s ruining their lives and it’s damaging their families. We have to have real change now.” The first question was about racial justice. In Colorado, “black people are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white people” and Latinos account for 31 percent of the prison population even though they only comprise 21 percent of the overall population. Maillaro said we need to implement a vision that changes the culture of the community and police interaction. District attorneys can deal with bail reform issues internally, giving people a chance to stay in the community. Padden said, “we need to take a hard look at the prosecution data, including charging decisions and sentences sought, to determine whether race came into that equation because we know that it has.” She would bring in “an outside entity to look at that data, compile it, analyze it, and share the results.” Padden noted that it is critically important to get buy-in from law enforcement. On the subject of diversion, Padden said that she recently “established and ran an adult diversion program in a different judicial district,” noting that a diversion is an important tool in “reducing our state’s over-incarceration rates.” Those that successfully completed the program had charges dismissed and cases sealed so they didn’t have a criminal record that would harm their future. Maillaro agreed and described a diversion program in which he was involved. The moderator described “Colorado’s continuing use of unjust money bail policies” that keep people in jail, noting that over half of Colorado’s jail population has not been convicted of a crime, but cannot afford the cost of getting out while awaiting trial. She asked what the candidates would do in the 18th judicial district to end the system of wealth-based detention. Padden said she felt that “we are essentially running debtors’ prison,” due to this system, which must be stopped because it is unconscionable. She noted that during the COVID crisis, the jail population was reduced by over 40 percent by relaxing cash bail policies. She also noted that it falls to the prosecutors to determine how bonds should be handled. Maillaro noted that the problem extends to people feeling pressured to plead guilty to charges they might not otherwise in order to end their cases. He would change the system to stop the most inexperienced lawyers from handling first appearance court. “I don’t believe there’s any place for cash in our criminal justice system. That’s the way it is now and that has to change.” On juvenile justice, Padden said, “I don’t believe in charging children as adults, period. The human mind is not fully developed until age 25. If we have a kid or a teenager who commits a crime, that’s on us as a society.” Pointing to a concern with the use of school resource officers, she said that it creates a situation where behaviors that would typically be handled by the school disciplinary process are now becoming part of the criminal justice system. Maillaro agreed in part but said that some teen behavior is effectively dealt with by the restorative justice system, especially if it involves behavior by a juvenile that would constitute a felony for an adult. He also said that very serious crimes like murder and sexual assault “cannot be handled by our juvenile justice system.” The candidates were asked about how their personal experiences with law enforcement have impacted their views. Maillaro said that he broke the law as a young person and was never prosecuted. At 16, he was committing a burglary when a New York police officer caught him and roughly took him home, unlike what would happen today, especially for a person of color. He appreciates that that officer gave him the opportunity to grow up without a criminal record. Padden said that when she was an assistant U.S. attorney, she was seriously threatened by an inmate at the SuperMax prison. As a victim, she appreciated the actions of the U.S. Marshalls and the FBI who investigated the case but was sometimes frustrated also. “It was an eye-opening experience to be a part of the system as a victim.” Fmiklin.villager@gmail.com

Amy Padden has served in all levels of government as a prosecutor, now wants to head up the 18th Judicial District.

Matt Maillaro wants to be promoted to head prosecutor in the 18th Judicial District.