Pittsfield — Right after the sheriff candidate debate on Monday, August 15, a debate between the two Berkshire County District Attorney candidates was held at the Berkshire Athenaeum Library.
The debate was between current District Attorney Andrea Harrington and candidate Timothy Shugrue.
Panelists for the event included Berkshire Edge Managing Editor Shaw Israel Izikson, WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes, and IBerkshires reporter Brittany Polito.
The hour long debate was moderated by IBerkshires Executive Editor Tammy Daniels and was sponsored by Berkshire Community Television and IBerkshires.
Just like the previous Sheriff candidate debate, the auditorium at the library was packed with 100 people in the audience.
At the beginning of the debate, the two candidates discussed their different approaches when it comes to cases, including District Attorney Harrington’s approach to not pursuing prosecution on cases involving lower-level offenses.
“We take a multi-faceted approach to how we address the cases that come into the court system, and there is a certain category of cases that do more harm than good for us to be prosecuting them in the courts,” District Attorney Harrington said. “That’s an area where my office has made huge changes by not prosecuting those low-level cases that are driven by mental health issues, substance use disorders, and poverty. The benefits of this are well documented. There was a study that was done in Suffolk County that showed that 58 percent of the people whose low-level cases were dismissed did not come back into the courts within two years. It has demonstrated that when somebody comes into the court system, they are more likely to come back.”
However, if elected as District Attorney, Shugrue said he would prosecute low-level crimes and would prosecute cases involving drug possession.
“I believe that progress is getting people to help,” Shugrue said. “I believe that we have a statutory diversionary system called Chapter 276, Section 87.”
Shugrue was referring to a state general law statute that states that a district, superior, or juvenile court, may place any individual charged with an offense or crime in the care of a probation officer before a trial or before a plea.
“I don’t believe in getting convictions for these individuals, but I believe in providing the resources we have in the court system with probation to get people the help they need,” Shugrue said. “I’ve dealt with addicts on a daily basis that have substance use disorders. It’s difficult for them to get help and to get services. By providing those services through the court system we attack substance use disorder. We also deal with the underlying problem: what was the reason for them getting into drug use?”
“People should be very concerned that they have somebody who is a legitimate candidate for district attorney who doesn’t even understand the basic premise of harm reduction and doesn’t understand what all the science in research and what public health [organizations] tells us,” District Attorney Harrington said. “Stigmatizing and criminalizing substance use disorders, mental health issues, and poverty leads to failure. It’s a failed system, and it’s going back to what we’ve been trying for the past 40 years and it hasn’t worked. It has created huge racial disparities and cycles of poverty that need to be broken, and it’s got to end. I want this community to move forward instead of being dragged into the past.”
“We need a district attorney that has the experience, that’s been in the game, and that knows what happens on a daily basis with people in the court system,” Shugrue said in response. “We need a district attorney that can help people out when they need them and not someone who’s just talking about policies and philosophies.”
The next question posed to the candidates was about how they would reduce gun violence in the area.
One day after the debate took place in Pittsfield, a resident was shot and injured in an incident that took place a mile away from the library.
“The first thing we have to deal with is immediate threats that exist in our community,” District Attorney Harrington said. “We use State Statute 58A to hold people pretrial, including every single individual that was apprehended and arrested by the Pittsfield Police Department. In the three months where we had a number of shootings, the District Attorney’s Office requested that those people be held pretrial. We always have to put public safety first. The second thing that we have to do is look at the systemic reasons as to why young people in particular are carrying illegal firearms in a community. We received a grant recently to provide more mentoring through [the 18 Degrees mentoring program]. But with Covid shutdowns, we have not had a chance to have those mentoring programs up and running.”
“We know why they’re carrying weapons: it’s the drug trade,” Shugrue said. “What’s happening here is greed. People want to make money out of that and support it. We need to stop that, and you can’t stop it by reducing those cases. In the last six months, I have seen so many [charges] in cases get reduced down from what could be jail sentences, to no jail sentences and then being pleaded out. That is not acceptable to me. Fifteen shootings since February is not acceptable to me, and shouldn’t be acceptable to you.”
“That is just simply not true,” District Attorney Harrington said in response. “My office very aggressively prosecutes gun cases here in Berkshire County. We send people to the House of Corrections for lengthy sentences. Sometimes these minimum mandatory sentences result in 12, 15, or 20 years of a young person going to state prison. It represents huge racial disparities, but there has not been a single shooting in this community where my office has made a mistake in not asking somebody to be held.”
Two days after the debate, via email, Harrington’s campaign criticized Shugrue on an internet show hosted by Dan Valenti. The email was sent by campaign representative Adam Webster of Castle Point Partners of Boston.
“Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington has called on her opponent Tim Shugrue to explain to voters why he participated in a right-wing podcast with a history of racist comments and posts,” Webster wrote in his email. “Harrington, the Democratic District Attorney, rejected an invitation to go on this show, emphasizing that it is incumbent upon all of us, especially those in the justice system and seeking to be District Attorney, to reject racism, misogynism, and those who promote it.”
In his email, Webster did not cite any specific previous posts or broadcasts Valenti had made. Shugrue’s campaign did not return calls for comment for this story.
However, Valenti responded in an email “I’ll make Mrs. Harrington a deal: If she stops telling lies about me, I’ll stop telling the truth about her.”
“Anyone who reads [Valenti’s website] Planet Valenti knows that this statement is preposterous,” Valenti wrote in his email. “Mrs. Harrington’s campaign is desperate at this point and is grasping at ice cream sodas, let alone straws. Moreover, notice that Mrs. Harrington issues these statements through her flack, Adam Webster, the high-priced hired gun from Boston. She doesn’t have the courage, the integrity, or the belief in herself to speak for herself, a sure sign of what she herself knows at this point: ‘The Experiment’ is over. As for the epithet of ‘racist,’ the ‘r’ word is the most popular word in Mrs. Harrington’s lexicon, once a flame-tipped word that has become neutered in rational, reasonable discussion. She loves using the ‘r’ word as a substitute for facing the tough questions, in real time, sans notes or coaching, which is what Planet Valenti debates do.”
Previously on August 8, Berkshire County Sheriff candidates Alf Barbalunga, and Sheriff Tom Bowler, both appeared at a debate hosted by Valenti.
