To the editor:
In the race for the Berkshire County District Attorney, Timothy Shugrue talks about experience but his seems about quantity, with little quality. Most of his career was in divorce court, not prosecuting criminals.
As Assistant District Attorney back in the 80s and 90s, he was never promoted. He has not prosecuted a case since the Clinton Administration or before email. That sounds like inexperience to me.
Quality prosecutors from the old Ruberto/Downing days became judges or partners at prestigious law firms. But not Tim. His career fanned the flames of divorcing couples burning their marriages down over possessions, more akin to an ambulance chaser, not a prosecutor.
He is not certified to accept criminal cases from the Committee for Public Counsel Services. His criminal work has mostly been pleading out drunk drivers. He criticizes District Attorney Andrea Harrington’s use of dangerousness hearings, but he has never done one.
Andrea Harrington has proudly led the District Attorney Office for four years. She has courageously transformed it into a progressive, modern prosecutor’s office; pioneered a high risk domestic violence task force; and countered the rise of alt-right hate.
Harrington created the first ever Hate Crime Section in the District Attorney’s office. She is endorsed by renowned Constitutional Scholars, fellow District Attorneys, Attorneys General, a Supreme Judicial Court Justice, and other public servants who have earned our trust.
Stick with a proven leader.
Michael Mah
Pittsfield
