The gloves are coming off:
The already contentious Democratic race for attorney general struck an even harsher note this weekend, when Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro aired a TV spot sharply questioning Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.’s stance on abortion rights.
The 30-second ad, which began airing on Pittsburgh TV stations Sunday evening, asserts that while Mr. Shapiro is backed by women’s health care provider Planned Parenthood, Mr. Zappala “refused to fill out a questionnaire” from the group.
“And Zappala is the one who jailed a woman who had a miscarriage, then charged her with concealing the death of a child,” the ad states.
That’s a reference to the 2007 case of Christine Hutchinson, a 22-year-old Bloomfield woman who had miscarried and kept the fetus in a freezer, where police found it. The county medical examiner’s office quickly determined that the miscarriage happened at the 19th or 20th week of development. She was initially charged with abusing a corpse; Mr. Zappala’s office later added a charge of “concealing the death of a child.”
Ms. Hutchinson was incarcerated in the mental health unit of the county jail for a week, then released after a preliminary hearing. But the decision to charge her at all was controversial: Abortion-rights advocates and foes alike told the Post-Gazette they opposed filing charges.
On Monday, Mr. Zappala said he filed the charges “so she could get the treatment she needs. The only reason we’d leave charges in place was to make sure she was getting treated. … It was all about her.”
Court records reflect that the case was dropped in December 2007 because “as per prior agreement, defendant has continued counseling with success.”
Ms. Hutchinson died in 2014. But Lawrence Fisher, who’d represented Ms. Hutchinson, said Monday that the ad “brought back a lot of bad memories.” He called the case “the most abusive prosecution I’ve ever witnessed. She was young and terrified, and he dragged her through the system for six months.”
Mr. Fisher said the DA’s office had “a very paternalistic attitude — that she wouldn’t get help unless they forced her to.”
Unfortunately the ad is not available online. There are plenty of reasons why the Attorney General race in Pennsylvania is such an important election this year. Fracking has become one of the top issues in this race:
Speaking on WHYY’s Radio Times, Shapiro said the state Attorney General’s office has filed criminal charges against two gas companies, despite thousands of documented violations.
“I am going to beef up the environmental crimes division within the A.G.’s office and the public protection division and go after the frackers,” he said.
Shapiro, a Montgomery County Commissioner, also wants to step up coordination between the A.G.’s office and state environmental regulators.
During a recent debate for Democratic candidates on NBC 10, Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli said he agrees with Shapiro’s plan. According to Pennsylvania law, the A.G.’s office cannot take action to prosecute those who violate state environmental statutes unless the case has been referred by the state Department of Environmental Protection or a county district attorney.
“And whenever we send these cases up, what I find is that it’s very rare… that you’ll see a criminal prosecution,” said Morganelli, who believes there are two reasons that could be the case.
First, he said the environmental crimes unit may not have enough resources. Second, Morganelli said, it’s more difficult to hold companies criminally liable for breaking environmental laws, as opposed to imposing civil penalties.
“It’s a heavy burden for a criminal prosecution and the A.G.’s office may be reluctant to bring one,” he said.
During the same debate, Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala offered a more untested proposal. Zappala said in the few places where drilling has not taken place, he would meet with oil and gas companies before they begin their work.
“And I’d say, ‘We’re going to engineer this properly, we’re going to do it right on the front end because people are afraid of you polluting their drinking water,’” he said. “If that would not be acceptable to have our people or the county’s people there watching exactly how the engineering was taking place or what chemicals were being injected into the ground, then I would sue them.”
Zappala spokesman Marty Marks said he has had similar meetings with developers in Allegheny County in his role as district attorney.
And Shapiro’s record proves he’s the right man for the job:
I've always taken on the status quo. In the state legislature, I took on the insiders and passed tough new ethics laws.
As the first Democrat elected to lead Montgomery County in 150 years, I cleaned up a mess and lead an ethical, transparent government that is four times larger than the Office of Attorney General.
As Chairman of the Montgomery County Commission, I led the fight against the discriminatory Voter ID law, fired Wall Street middlemen to protect retirees and helped the first LGBT couples in Pennsylvania marry.
As Chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, I've worked to improve services for victims, make prevention programs more effective and reform our criminal justice system.
I've never been afraid to take on the powerful and protect the rights of all Pennsylvanians.
Too many in our Commonwealth feel the deck is stacked against them and they can't get a fair shake in our justice system. Restoring people's basic sense of fairness is a vital task, and I'm up to the challenge.
I'll be an Attorney General who fights for our values. I will fight for equality under the law, take on the frackers who pollute our air and water, stand up to the scam artists that target seniors and always protect a woman's right to choose.
Shapiro has been endorsed by President Obama, Governor Tom Wolf (D. PA), Planned Parenthood, Equality PA, Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania's nurses and teachers and U.S. Senator Bob Casey, Jr. (D. PA):
Pennsylvania continues to trend blue and we can continue to make it a bluer, more progressive state. In 2014, we threw out a Tea Party Governor and elected a caring, Progressive Businessman. Last year we took back the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and this year we have the chance to throw out a Tea Party U.S. Senator. But local races are important and with every issue from women’s rights to voter ID laws to gay rights to Wall Street to the environment, we need to elect a strong Progressive to this position. Click here to donate and get involved with Shapiro’s campaign.