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just in: Parisa Dehghani-Tafti OUSTS Arlington's prosecutor Theo Stamos.
She said she was running to "dismantle" mass incarceration. She told me she'll never seek death penalty nor prosecute pot, that she'd treat "addiction as a medical problem," & more. appealpolitics.org/2019/interview…
She said she was running to "dismantle" mass incarceration. She told me she'll never seek death penalty nor prosecute pot, that she'd treat "addiction as a medical problem," & more. appealpolitics.org/2019/interview…
Dehghani-Tafti is a former public defender who works at the Mid-Atlantic Legal Innocence Project.
She told me that her work as a defense attorney meant dealing with single cases as they came along, but that she ran for prosecutor to address mass incarceration more head-on.
She told me that her work as a defense attorney meant dealing with single cases as they came along, but that she ran for prosecutor to address mass incarceration more head-on.
Stamos, the incumbent, joined a lawsuit in 2016 against @TerryMcAuliffe's executive order restoring voting rights to people post-sentence. This led McAuliffe to back Dehghani-Tafti this year.
But get this: Dehghani-Tafti told me she opposed disenfranchising at *any* point.
But get this: Dehghani-Tafti told me she opposed disenfranchising at *any* point.
Contrasts were stark. Stamos told me "Arlington does not engage in mass incarceration." She'd said in 2018 that's a term used to delegitimize what prosecutors do.
But new reporting by @kira_lerner found a history of harsh prosecution by her office:
But new reporting by @kira_lerner found a history of harsh prosecution by her office:
Perhaps most interesting answer Dehghani-Tafti gave me: I asked why prosecutors are relevant to fighting mass incarceration. She argued they like to say they just "enforce the law," but play a "shell game" since they not only have politics but are adept at making it count.
if you read thru here, here's my big primer of the contrasts in the Arlington county that covers a lot of what I threaded above: appealpolitics.org/2019/virginia-…
And now, time to turn my attention to the other two prosecutorial elections happening in VA tonight:
And now, time to turn my attention to the other two prosecutorial elections happening in VA tonight:
.@mcimaps has already made a map of the Arlington/Falls Church results between Theo Stamos & Parisa Dehghani-Tafti!
