Robert Sullivan Jr. Launches Bid for Berkshire District Attorney
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Local attorney Robert Sullivan Jr. officially launched his run for district attorney on Monday as an unenrolled independent candidate with a focus on public safety and de-politicizing the position.
Sullivan feels that District Attorney Andrea Harrington is too involved with politics, particularly her membership in the Fair and Just Prosecution group that says it promotes a fair, equitable, compassionate, and fiscally responsible justice system.
"I stand here today before you because I believe that public safety in Berkshire County is at a critical point, we currently have a district attorney who has tied herself very much so to politics, to a particular political group," he said during a campaign announcement at Park Square on Monday.
"That tie has resulted in a lack of focus on public safety and public service here in Berkshire County, decisions seem to be made based on the values of this political group and not what best serves the folks here in this county, a tragic result of that is that the DA no longer seems to be able to do the job that is required, which is a very serious job."
Harrington's office prioritizes alternatives to the "war on drugs," a phrase for the strict policing and sentencing of drug-related crimes, and instead has been allocating resources to address the issues that lead to substance use and to solutions for users.
"Fair and Just Prosecution, it's a national group of prosecutors who, I guess you would say, are extremely progressive in their ideas," Sullivan said.
"And I don't believe that the values they hold apply — I don't know whether they apply to other areas in the country, that's not my concern — what I've seen and what I've heard from folks in this county is that they don't work here."
The independent candidate grew up north of Boston and has been in the Berkshires for 14 years practicing law as a criminal defense attorney and an assistant district attorney. He attended the University of Miami and earned his law degree from the New England School of Law. He interned in the Essex County district attorney's office and then was an assistant DA in Berkshire County. He resides in Lee.
He sees himself as Harrington's true opponent and wants to lead with "compassion, competence and common sense."
Sullivan outlined four main objectives for his campaign: the prosecution of serious and violent crimes, accountability for low-level crimes, diversion programs for veterans and those with mental illness in the system, and community outreach.
After gathering evidence from cases that come before the court, from news articles, and available releases, Sullivan has concluded that serious and violent crimes continue to be more prevalent in Berkshire County.
"The data that I've collected suggested there are over a dozen untried homicides, several locations in the county are known by federal authorities to be hotbeds of the illegal trafficking sale of illegal firearms, shootings have been all too common, sometimes more than often in broad daylight, sexual assaults, gang violence, drug trafficking — all too common," he said.
"I will not waver in prosecuting these cases, punishment should fit the crime and it should also be a message to those that may offend in the future that such conduct will not be tolerated in this county."
He claimed that low-level offenses such as uninsured driving, driving with a suspended license, property damage, and shoplifting are all being dismissed prior to arraignment and that it sends the wrong message.
"We have the resources and staff necessary in this county to evaluate cases and to make decisions about the use of cash bail, where it's appropriate," he said. "Yet we engage in this continuous cycle where crimes are committed, the increase in recidivism continues, and other folks that may consider committing such a crime are seeing defendants walk into a courthouse and walk back out the front door same day. ...
"I think this sends the wrong message to the person involved, I think it sends the wrong message to the community. I see it hurting our community, I see it being against public safety and I think it's an extremely slippery slope. ... It hurts small businesses, it hurts families, quite frankly, it's an embarrassment to the many folks here who work hard to follow the law."
He does recognize the struggles that folks involved in the court system face and calls for an increase in diversion programs in the county's prosecution, calling them "an important and effective tool."
"There are two critical areas where sadly diversion is not available in this county and that relates to folks involved in the system who are veterans and folks involved in the system who suffer from a mental illness or one or more psychiatric diagnoses," Sullivan said. "I pledge to create comprehensive diversion programs for those folks whether it be working with the trial court to establish separate court session for those cases, whether it be bringing people in the community together at the same table to use the resources of the community create programs outside of the court, or perhaps both."
He also pledged to know the difference between cases that should be prosecuted and cases that should be diverted and believes there needs to be in the involvement of the community to prevent crime.
"We need to be in the schools, we need to engage with our youth," Sullivan said. "We can't always talk about the county as a whole, relationships need to be built with the different sub-communities that exist within the county to ensure the prevention of crime and to lower the number of cases that require prosecution."
When queried about his broader political views outside of this election, Sullivan declined to comment because he said it is not relevant to what he is trying to do.
"How I may feel about a national political issue or a political issue statewide, quite frankly, it doesn't really matter because it doesn't translate into what I intend to do," he explained.
When asked about equity, Sullivan doesn't know if there is a way to fix what has occurred in the past but described himself as "extremely open-minded" when it comes to the concept.
He also highlighted his priority of leading with compassion, which he said is essential.
"Should I be the DA, I would always be open-minded to those ideas, I think that you can engage in acts that work toward public safety that also keep those things in mind," Sullivan explained.
"I would never prosecute with an intention to be harmful to a certain group or to target a certain group, it's just not who I am but beyond that, I don't know what else can be done to fix it. I can only say that I would do whatever I can to make sure it doesn't continue."
Pittsfield attorney Timothy Shugrue is also challenging the incumbent DA, taking out papers earlier this month to run against her in the Democratic primary.
Tags: district attorney, election 2022,
