Democrat AG nominee Weinzapfel talks justice reform, other issues

Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Joining Putnam County Democrats for a Zoom meeting Tuesday evening, state attorney general candidate Jonathan Weinzapfel discusses the role of the attorney general’s office and the direction he would like to take if elected in November.
Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN

As the Democratic nominee to be Indiana’s chief legal officer, Jonathan Weinzapfel has some ideas on reforming the criminal justice system.

However, as he talked about police, courts and other matters to a gathering of Putnam County Democrats via Zoom Tuesday evening, the word “defund” never crossed the attorney general candidate’s lips.

Instead, Weinzapfel said police officers have a very difficult job, one that is to be respected, even as he believes some changes need to be made to the criminal justice system.

“It’s a tough job. When you’re out there as a police officer pulling someone over, you have to walk into every situation as if that person is heavily armed,” Weinzapfel said. “Golly, that has to have a heavy impact on police officers as they do their work.”

As such, he said he believes a number of steps need to be taken to help police do their jobs more effectively, including additional training in matters such as mental health.

“As we deal with what we call law enforcement reform, it is incredibly important that we provide enhanced and more training for police officers,” Weinzapfel said.

He said that while police need to be held accountable for their actions in situation such as George Floyd in Minneapolis, “just the same, they need the extra training.”

He also noted that better pay for police officers would help attract the best candidates.

“You get what you pay for,” Weinzapfel said, recalling his time as mayor of Evansville.

While Weinzapfel drew a line between himself and lame duck Attorney General Curtis Hill and Republian nominee Todd Rokita, he gave Gov. Eric Holcomb, also a Republican, credit for some of the steps he’s willing to take in criminal justice reform.

“I applaud the governor for at least taking some steps and talking about some of the things that he would like to see in terms of criminal justice reform and law enforcement reform,” Weinzapfel said, noting that Holcomb is willing to look at body cameras for all Indiana State Troopers and in looking at curriculum changes at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy.

But Weinzapfel wants to take it further, requiring all officers in the state to wear cameras as a first step.

“We have to make sure we are keeping Hoosiers safe — at home, at the workplace and in their communities,” Weinzapfel said. “We need to respect the humanity in each of us.”

He said he doesn’t see that in his opponent.

“Todd Rokita’s solution is simply, ‘Lock ‘em up,’” Weinzapfel said.

On the other hand, Weinzapfel said he wants to keep people out of jail by decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana or having each county start a drug court that utilizes alternative sentencing and helps get people the mental health help they need.

“If we can keep people out of jail, I think everybody is better off,” Weinzapfel said.

While these sort of programs take funding, the AG hopeful even has plans for that, hoping to use proceeds from a settlement with opioid manufacturers to help the most affected communities.

“I know the State of Oklahoma, as they settled their case, received about a half a billion dollars,” Weinzapfel said. “I think that could go a long way toward addressing this problem.”

Weinzapfel also said opening doors to career and technical education could be another way to keep young people out of trouble.

In his time as chancellor of Ivy Tech-Evansville, Weinzapfel said he initiated a program in which high school students either began working toward their associate’s or bachelor’s degrees or earned technical certifications. He feels such a program on a wider scale would give more young people a chance at a good future.

“If they’re earning some type of credential, that should qualify as graduating from high school,” Weinzapfel said.

Though no Democrat has won election as attorney general since Jeff Modesitt in 1996, Weinzapfel is upbeat about his chances, noting the embattled Hill’s inability to win a second nomination and Rokita’s reported unpopularity in his own party.

“We have about 70 days and we have a real shot,” Weinzapfel said. “There isn’t much difference between Todd Rokita and Curtis Hill. They’re both to the right of Mike Pence. They’re both wrong for Indiana.”

Weinzapfel said he also believes his opponent, the former Indiana Secretary of State and Fourth District Congressman, is underestimating the challenge.

“Todd Rokita is taking it all for granted,” Weinzapfel said. “It is amazing to see how little he is doing and to discover how many Republicans really despise this guy.”

He noted how both Rokita and Hill opposed Holcomb’s mask mandate in response to COVID-19.

“I’m the only one who stepped up and said, ‘Look, this is the right thing to do,’” he said. “If we want our kids to go back to school, it’s the right thing to do.”

Weinzapfel hopes that he can return his party to statewide elected office and be a voice even regarding matters not directly in the purview of the attorney general, such as education and environmental regulations.

“This is a tremendous bully pulpit to have a statewide elected office through which we can speak up about issues that are important to us,” Weinzapfel said.

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  • Using language to appeal to Indiana voters. Would love to know what the words really mean when it comes to action.

    Also, is he running for AG, or AG+?

    -- Posted by beg on Fri, Aug 28, 2020, at 10:46 AM
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