The forum held by the Shelby County Democratic Party last Monday night for its three candidates for District Attorney General had several compelling moments, and all three candidates — Steve Mulroy, Janika White, and Linda Harris — had their share of them.
The tenor of the event at the Rose Theater at the University of Memphis was almost unwaveringly on the need to ensure equal justice for black and brown people. There was general unanimity on that score, as well as on the expressed imperative to retire from office Republican incumbent Amy Weirich, whose methods were characterized as unimaginative and repressive versions of lock-’em-up-and-throw-away-the-key.
Among the subjects considered were bail reform, the need for machinery to review convictions and sentences, ideas about rehabilitation, and the question of whether and when to transfer juvenile offenders to the regular court system. If there was a subject that didn’t get a full venting, it was probably that of victims’ rights, and that omission may have stemmed from the predilections of the moderators who asked the questions.
The audience reaction to candidates’ remarks was frequent and highly audible.
One of the evening’s key moments was, appropriately, that of the candidates’ concluding remarks. The order of response for various topics was varied throughout the night, and, for this last element, the order was to be: White, Mulroy, Harris. White, however, voiced the need for a glass of water before continuing, and Mulroy proceeded in her place. The concluding remarks of all three candidates were as follows:
MULROY: “Everybody up on this dais, I think, agrees with the people probably mostly in this audience, that we desperately need systemic change, we need reform in our criminal justice system. So the question is, what’s the best way to accomplish it? And it seems to me that if you want to ask that question, you need to ask who has the kind of political experience to best take on Weirich in August, who has the longest track record of taking public progressive policy positions, so you know, for sure what they’re going to do once they get in office, and who has the kind of county government experience and administrative experience — I was associate dean at the law school — in order to make sure that we can actually implement systemic change and make it stick. Now, obviously, I think the answer to those questions is me, right? But whatever the answer is, whatever the voters decide, I think we can all unite behind that person, and make sure that we bring change to the Shelby County criminal justice system. And that’s what I intend to do. I used to think that this race was a bit of a left turn for me, I was very happy as a tenured law professor, I have summers off, it’s a very nice thing. a sweet gig. Nice work if you can get it, I’d recommend it to you. But lately, I’ve been thinking actually, this is the culmination of everything that I’ve been doing, of all the broad types of the experience I have, I check off all the boxes. And it’s sort of leading me to this decision. You know, we celebrated Easter just a couple of days ago, and I was reminded of the phrase that Jesus said that ‘Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall have their fill.’ That hunger and that thirst has animated my entire career. I would be so honored if I can be your nominee to take that case for change to Weirich in August, and then beyond. And we don’t want to miss this once-in-an-eight-year opportunity, so that we together can make Shelby County safer and fairer. Thank you very much.”
WHITE: “Just like I said before, I am from the community, for the community, and have been working in the community. We get this opportunity every eight years, eight years; it is imperative that we get it right this time. Most people don’t know, and I tell them this, that in the entire state of Tennessee, we have never had an African American District Attorney out of 31 districts, including Shelby County, which is majority African American. And the question that was just asked right before this one was the importance of diversity in the office, and even my opponent, Professor Mulroy, stated the importance of that diversity and representation in that office, to the point that he called it out. It is imperative that we have that kind of change from the top as well, not just within the office. I believe the time is now. I believe that we need a person who can actually get out in the community and work with the young people, someone who young people can identify with and the communities can identify with, to really make the changes that we need. Policy is important. Absolutely. Experience in the courtroom is important. Absolutely. But it is just as important that we have to appreciate the importance, that we have someone who can be real boots on the ground, working with the very people that are going through our criminal justice system, to ensure that they don’t keep going through our criminal justice system, and to ensure that they’re not out harming us while we’re in our communities.”
HARRIS: “If you ever want to know how a person will perform, it’s enough to look at what they’ve done in the past, and my record speaks for itself. My record, my reputation is one of justice, integrity, equality, and fairness. I have worked hard my whole life to work in this community to make a difference. I’ve worked with children. I’ve worked, I created a program for them. I care about this community, and I felt led to run in this race. I will work hard for the citizens of Shelby County. I’ve always — as a police officer, as an assistant United States Attorney, and as a federal prosecutor — worked to do justice, to do the right thing for the right reason, in the right way. And that’s what I’m going to do in this office. I agree that we do need someone who culturally understands the impact of crime on those most affected, and they look like me. And I am not just asking you to vote for me because they look like me. But I’m qualified. I’m ready. And my whole life is just a roadmap to how to get here — police officer, federal prosecutor representing people in the criminal justice system — but I took the time to learn about strategic planning on crime prevention, effective strategic planning. I took the time to learn about restorative justice and restorative practice because I know it’s helpful to this community, not just with this campaign, but years ago. I am ready for this job and I have said it all along that together, Shelby County, we can make it better. And I’m asking for your vote. And I’m asking for us to work together. I can do what I say I can do. And I have a proven record of working to do just that. Thank you.”
Straw-vote ballots had been distributed to all of the attendees and were collected after the meeting. All three contenders had significant support, but Mulroy was adjudged the winner after the responses were totaled up.
