The University News

Issue date: 6/2/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Derek Simons (L-R) Media panelists Joe Arce, Steve Kraske, Mike Mahoney and Eric Wesson; CCP moderator David Kenner; candidates Missouri House representatives Margaret Donnelly and Jeff Harris, Missouri State Senator Chris Koster

Three lawyers are hoping to become the next Democratic candidate for Missouri Attorney General and in a debate May 22 at Whitehall, the Performing Arts Center, they stated their cases as only attorneys can.

Organized by the Committee for County Progress (CCP) and UMKC College Democrats, with more than 200 people present, the event was extremely well attended considering it took place between the spring and summer semesters when the UMKC campus is basically deserted. However, the average age of those attending was around 45, and, apart from Tyler Thompson, president of UMKC College Democrats, there were perhaps four or five other students.

The three candidates who hope to replace four-term Attorney General Jay Nixon fielded questions from four panelists for more than an hour, with the tone remaining for the most part extremely civil.

Panelist Steve Kraske of The Kansas City Star and KCUR raised the issue of the death penalty, which all three candidates support.

Missouri House Representative Jeff Harris expressed concern that it be applied with extreme care.

"It is my firm belief that the innocent should never be executed," Harris said. "As attorney general, to prevent that happening, I would extend the use of DNA."

Harris, who served as assistant attorney general for three years, and also as House minority leader, said he was open to suggestions from those opposed to capital punishment or from those who simply believe in a "just and fair" criminal system.

"The role of the attorney general in enforcing the death penalty is largely ministerial," Harris said. "There is not a great deal of discretion."

Margaret Donnelly, who also serves in the Missouri House, placed her emphasis on funding.

"I believe we cannot ask jurors to make such a weighty decision if there is a lack of confidence in the system," she said. "Because it's the attorney general's responsibility to handle the appeal and because we want justice served, I also believe that we have to allocate new resources into the offices that prosecute, the offices that defend and we have to have the best up-to-date scientific evidence so that we have the right evidence and the right person."

Continued...

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