While many people are focusing on the presidential election there are many other races on the ballot Nov. 4. The two candidates for district attorney, Leon Cannizzaro and Ralph Capitelli, disagreed on ways to run the office in a forum held in Louis J. Roussell Hall Oct. 27 moderated by WVUE-TV anchor John Snell.
The two Loyola Law graduates believe there is a lot at stake for New Orleans, with Cannizzaro citing safety concerns and Capitelli discussing the city’s recovery.
Cannizzaro, a former judge for the New Orleans Criminal Court, said his lengthy work in the criminal court gives him the experience and knowledge that qualifies him for the position of district attorney.
Capitelli, a defense attorney and former prosecutor, said his former tenure as first assistant to the district attorney gives him the experience and managerial skill for candidacy.
Cannizzaro said he wants to use resources and money that former district attorneys have not used to help technologically update the office, keep young district attorney assistants and to pay his qualified employees top dollar.
“We have seen this particular DA’s office has left money on the table when they had opportunities to place computers in the office,” Cannizzaro said.
Cannizzaro said he also wants to send a representative from the district attorney’s office to every homicide scene to enable prosecutors to begin working with New Orleans Police Department early on.
“This is about being a manager. I managed that office. I managed all the divisions of that office,” Capitelli said.
Capitelli also plans to have assistants make a three year commitment to the office and mentor young prosecutors that come work for the office.
Both candidates agree that they must work with city council and the mayor to help cover the cost of salaries for 29 employees. The salaries were covered by a $1.9 million federal grant that expires in December.
Negative campaign ads have also played heavily in this race. Cannizzaro ran an ad attacking Capitelli for changing the venue on a trial – a white bouncer accused of beating a black patron to death – on account that the jury was predominantly black. Capitelli, who was a defendant for one of the white bouncers, disapproved of Cannizzaro’s tactic of running the ad on radio and television stations that targeted black audiences.
In one of Capitelli’s ads he attacked Cannizzaro for his the salary supplement he gave to three employees.
With the amount of crime in the city, the New Orleans district attorney’s race is one of the most important.
“The DA’s race is very important because the crime in the city is so rampant,” mass communication junior Trevor Cassidy said.
The New Orleans district attorney’s office is not free from controversy. The former district attorney Eddie Jordan resigned after being indicted for racial discrimination after firing white employees and hiring all black employees. The office has also struggled with its budget since Hurricane Katrina, even for simple items such as office supplies.
John Adams can be reached at [email protected].
