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Dear Editor:
Greg Garrison is not the right choice for Prosecutor. His campaign has been misleading and superficial. Jessica Paxson should be our next Prosecuting Attorney.
Mr. Garrison has touted a record of prosecution that spans recent decades, even going so far as to being quoted in this newspaper in May that he’s “been prosecuting felons around the state for nearly 50 years.” Such a claim is misleading at best, patently false at worst. He has not served as a prosecutor since the 1990s. In this millennium he has sued alleged criminals to take their property. Most elected prosecutors in this state choose to have such civil forfeiture actions handled by an outside attorney so that the criminal process and the civil forfeiture process run independently of one another. Civil forfeiture is not the same as prosecution, at least not in the sense that even an educated electorate such as ours would generally understand, and Mr. Garrison’s claims to have been prosecuting for decades capitalize upon the misunderstanding of this distinction. In 2017 the Indianapolis Star cited his law firm’s website when explaining that Garrison specialized “primarily in personal injury, business and commercial trial law.” Not prosecution. Contrary to his statements and his campaign’s early literature, his campaign website today avoids using those exaggerated and misleading claims.
Next, add this to his experience shell game: Mr. Garrison’s unwillingness to engage with his opponent or appear at a public, non-partisan event to answer questions. Please understand that Mr. Garrison is being a dutiful partyman by following Chairman Massillamany’s edict that no Hamilton County Republican candidates appear at non-partisan events for fear of being treated “unfairly” or being “attacked.” The edict makes political sense for many offices, but to have a prosecutor candidate shirk such a civic opportunity is extremely disappointing.
Consider that the League of Women Voters posed these questions at its candidate forum in early October: (1) What are the biggest changes you think need to be made to our justice system, and how do you plan to work towards bringing about that change? (2) If elected to serve in this role, how will you measure success on a day-to-day basis and then at the end of your term? (3) What are the most important challenges facing our county and how do you propose to address them? (4) What motivated you to seek this position? (5) Describe the education, training and/or experiences that make you the candidate that voters should choose. And, the coup de grâce, (6) explain the role of the Prosecutor’s Office. These questions – none unfair or attacking – were even provided to the candidates ahead of time! To this point, Mr. Garrison has been following the local party’s lead and political direction; will that stop if Mr. Garrison is indeed elected? The election is political, but the office should not be.
What we are left with is a candidate who misleads the electorate by exaggerating or mischaracterizing his albeit lengthy legal career while refusing to debate or even answer questions. His lack of engagement in the political process beyond fundraising at the heels of politicos is also disturbing when considering that the job of a prosecutor demands engagement with the community, being responsive to the people, and making tough, independent decisions. Hamilton County deserves better, far better. Not someone who testifies in support of someone being convicted of multiple counts of child exploitation, defending and characterizing those criminal actions as “art.”
Thankfully, on the other side of the ballot, we see a deputy prosecutor who has been in the trenches for years fighting for this community, for her community. Ms. Paxson’s campaign has been responsive, engaged, and truthful; her administration would be exactly that, too. She understands what is actually going on in our community and what small tweaks the prosecutor’s office could make to be even better.
For these reasons I support Jessica Paxson for Prosecuting Attorney and ask that you do, too.
Andre Miksha
Noblesville