Joshua Vaughn recently reported in The Appeal that, of the 1,700 misdemeanor drug possession cases referred to Zappala’s office in 2017, he sought a criminal conviction in more than 90 percent of them. It is also a departure from her opponent, longtime incumbent Stephen Zappala. “Addiction is a medical issue, not a criminal issue.” She would still use the punitive threat of charges to compel treatment, and act differently if people have repeated arrests, so she qualified that her goal is “never going to happen.” Still, her stated aim is a departure from the traditional template of DA candidates who say they will drive up conviction rates regardless of who is being funneled into the criminal legal system, and for what reason. “The ultimate goal would be to have zero percent conviction rate,” she said about drug possession cases. Middleman told the Political Report that she also wants to set up new diversion options for drug offenses. Her unusually detailed online platform commits her to not seeking the death penalty, avoiding mandatory minimums, avoiding probation terms upon release from incarceration, not seeking cash bail, and declining to prosecute marijuana possession, among other policies. Middleman works as a public defender in Allegheny County, the state’s second-biggest jurisdiction (after Philadelphia) and home to Pittsburgh. “I would anticipate that given that our goals are very similar, our outlooks on the changes that are necessary to make this system actually work for all of the people are very similar, that we would be a strong force to reckon with,” she told The Appeal: Political Report this week in a Q&A. Lisa Middleman looks forward to “joining forces” with Philadelphia’s reform-minded district attorney Larry Krasner if she is elected DA of Allegheny County in November. DAs should be “reducing mass incarceration and creating equity,” she told the Political Report. Lisa Middleman is challenging Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala in November.
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