Right Now, Northampton County’s DA Is Just Not Working.

Stephen Baratta is running to become Northampton County’s District Attorney because our community needs change.  Change is needed now to transform the Office of the District Attorney to a team that competently serves our community with the highest of ethical standards, ensuring justice is equally administered, fighting the growing violent crime and opioid epidemics, listening to and advocating for victims of crime, educating and helping our youth, and bringing diversity, inclusion, and equality to the District Attorney’s Office, so that it better represents the diversity that is today’s Northampton County. Today’s District Attorney has failed Northampton County, at many different levels. Change is needed now.

Northampton County needs a District Attorney that will resolve the many issues facing our community. Stephen Baratta will transform the District Attorney’s Office to one that works for and understands the people of Northampton County.

Crime & the Opioid Crisis

Violent crime and fentanyl deaths continue to ravage our communities and the current District Attorney is doing nothing to solve the root of the problem. Violent crimes have increased since the current District Attorney was elected, with more murders, domestic and severe crimes of violence, gun offenses, and deaths resulting from fentanyl, heroin, opioids, and methamphetamine.  Change is needed now.  Baratta will:

• Expand the use of Northampton County’s Drug Court. Drug Court is a pretrial diversion plan that offers an opportunity for users to avoid incarceration so long as the participants enter a drug treatment program and remain sober. The District Attorney's office has veto authority, and the current District Attorney has erected arbitrary barriers to deny entry into these programs. Baratta will take down barriers and will seek the use our opioid funding to increase staffing to support the expansion of Drug Court, so more of our citizens struggling with addiction can get help that they need, rather than suffer punishments that have no rehabilitative impact.  Baratta will also concentrate his resources in prosecuting felony drug dealers – those who are in the business of dealing fentanyl, heroin, opioids, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances which ravage our community.

• Use money from the Drug Forfeiture Fund to partner with local governmental agencies to develop programs that merge community policing with neighborhood and civic involvement – programs designed to clean up neighborhoods, fund and educate local organizations so they have tools to expand community participation, and help foster a better relationship between police and our community.  Northampton County needs more energy, dedication, passion, and activism to address this problem.

• Fund educational programming, including establishing a presence in every Northampton County high school to educate our youth about the dangers of drug use, especially fentanyl, which has ravaged our social fabric and killed so many of our young adults.  The District Attorney needs to be involved in more than just an arrest and conviction policy but must engage in protective actions within our community to address the fentanyl and opioid crisis.
  

Decriminalize Simple Marijuana Possession

The possession of small amounts marijuana prosecutions has clogged Northampton County’s courts and the convictions that the current District Attorney demands leads to the destruction of employment and educational prospects for many of our young adults.  Baratta will decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.  Baratta will also assemble a team that educates Northampton County youth about the perils of drug use, concentrating on the dangers presented by fentanyl, heroin, opioids, and methamphetamine, to the users, their families, and our community at large.

Give a Voice to All Crime Victims

The current District Attorney gives little effort and support to our crime victims. He, quite simply, does not care.   His lack of attention to victims and ongoing failures to provide the opportunity for victims to participate in the prosecutorial process have become a common theme.  Baratta understands the importance of providing support and guidance to victims and families who have endured domestic violence, psychological trauma from victimization or have been injured by crimes of violence.  By endeavoring to create authentic relationships between the District Attorney and victims that continue beyond trial, Baratta will cultivate an office that cares about victims and provides them with a strong voice in the criminal justice process.

Equal Treatment & Fair Justice

Right now, there is inconsistent treatment of similar cases and discrepancies in the severity of charges.  This must stop, as equal justice under law is crucial to ensure a fair justice system for all.  Baratta will change the culture that the current District Attorney has developed. Baratta will:

• Bring tough, but fair and equal treatment to all who interact with the District Attorney’s office, increase conviction rate for serious offenses, and increase involvement for victims and their families in the legal process.

• Ensure that justice does not favor some over others.  Violent criminals need to be convicted and isolated from our community, but our justice system also needs to be fair to all, with no person or group receiving preferential treatment. Our justice system must equally protect all in our community, without regard to one’s background, identity, political patronage, or community “connections.”

• Recognize the diversity of Northampton County, to ensure that justice is equally administered to all, while recognizing that individuals may present different underlying circumstances, which, at times, should be considered to ensure rehabilitative justice. 

Transparency and Accountability

Today’s Northampton County District Attorney operates in the shadows with a high turnover of professional staff, conflicts of interest, ethical violations, favoritism, poor conviction rates, inconsistent trial outcomes, mismanaged resources, unethical “moonlighting” by the top member of the District Attorney’s team, and low office morale.  These issues start with the District Attorney and, this must change.  Baratta will implement the necessary changes to transform the District Attorney’s Office as one that works well within and is ready to serve our entire community.  Baratta will:

• Bring transparency and accountability to the District Attorney’s Office, especially when it comes to high-profile cases, by increasing communication to the press and public.

• Bring transparency and accounting to the citizens about the funds held in the drug forfeiture account and the funds made available from the opioid settlement to Northampton County—both of which were created to help address the destruction brought about by the scourge of addiction.

• Ensure that full-time district attorneys do not “moonlight” during work hours but are available to serve our community at all times of the day.  The current District Attorney has permitted his own full-time and highly paid First Assistant District Attorney to open and operate a separate, private law practice. which the First Assistant District Attorney manages during normal work hours, to take on private cases that have caused conflicts between the District Attorney’s Office and victims of crime, to litigate those cases at all hours of the workday, and to earn legal fees from private practice, while garnering the second highest salary in Northampton County. When the current District Attorney is questioned about the ethical implications of these activities, the current District Attorney hides behind a veil of secrecy. Baratta will stop this.  Baratta will put Northampton County’s residents first and direct an office that is accountable and is fully dedicated to serving our community.

Competent Direction & Leadership for the District Attorney’s Office

The Northampton County District Attorney both created and allowed a toxic office environment for both staff attorneys and supporting administrative staff which resulted in significant turnover, especially of female employees.  Unacceptable language and bullying towards staff are frequent complaints from those who have resigned from his office.  The District Attorney has also fostered a culture of favoritism both within his ranks and within the defense bar.  Further, over the last three years, the backlog of cases languishing in violation of the Constitutional concepts of due process and speedy trial for criminal cases has become an increasing problem. Baratta will:

• Decrease staff turnover by creating a more professional office environment and management.

• Implement and oversee a process that assures due process, the competent preparation and processing of cases, and provides a voice to the victims.

• Establish and adhere to policies addressing diversity, inclusion, and equality so that there is diversity within the ranks of the office and that all employees are treated with dignity and respect.

• Recruit, hire, and retain a professional and responsible staff who will be accountable to the taxpayers and citizens of Northampton County, and not outside interests.

• Create educational programing from within the office, for both law enforcement and staff, related to the preparation of criminal cases and the prosecution of cases at trial.