San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield announced
Tuesday that he will stop charging people accused of some minor
drug and public intoxication violations.
San Benito County District Attorney John Sarsfield announced Tuesday that he will stop charging people accused of some minor drug and public intoxication violations.
His three-prong justification included his libertarian beliefs, a desire to focus on more serious crimes and a lack of financial resources in his office.
Ostensibly, Sarsfield’s reasons for his soft-on-drugs policy are, well, reasonable, or at worst understandable. Many might agree with the district attorney that a person “smoking a joint” in their home should not be of great concern to law enforcement. Also, focusing on violent and property crime would likely garner the support of many in San Benito. The final justification – not enough money – might also be compelling. The county is, after all, strapped for cash.
Upon further investigation, however, we find Sarsfield’s justifications to be spurious and self-serving, and his new policy will do little to aid in the fight against real crime in the county.
First, political ideology has no place in the District Attorney’s Office. Sarsfield, elected to a nonpartisan post, is charged with enforcing the law. It’s that simple. Citizens needn’t know if he’s a Libertarian, Republican, Democrat or Communist. The order of things is clear: legislators create the law, and police officers, sheriff’s deputies and district attorneys enforce it.
Second, we find the district attorney’s claim that he wants to focus on more serious crimes to be suspect. More likely, Sarsfield wants to give his full attention to prosecuting Los Valientes – that anonymous group that the DA claims has violated the civil rights of a handful of residents and elected officials. The case has obviously become an obsession for Sarsfield. Meanwhile those accused of gun violations have received plea deals, even after the district attorney announced no more pleas for those charged with gun crimes.
Finally, Sarsfield’s claim that minor drug violations cannot be prosecuted because his department lacks adequate funds is erroneous. It is the district attorney’s obsession with prosecuting Los Valientes that drained his department’s budget. It came to light earlier this year that Sarsfield overshot his budget by $91,000 after he spent more than $115,000 paying an outside attorney to prosecute Los Valientes-related cases.
Sarsfield is smart; there is no doubt about that. And as an attorney he is good at arguing his position. But too often with this DA, the arguments are more air than substance and it becomes clear that Sarsfield is interested in politics rather than public safety. On June 6, county voters made a clear statement that they wanted change when they voted overwhelmingly to elect Deputy District Attorney Candice Hooper Mancino.
No matter what, Sarsfield will be out of the district attorney’s office in six months. We believe that the county should accelerate the process by offering the district attorney a buyout so that Hooper Mancino can begin her tenure and the district attorney’s office can get back to prosecuting criminals rather than chasing shadows.
