Out here on the edge of the empire that is Cumberland County,  it is easy to forget that we are tied, at least nominally, to the other 27 towns and cities in the county. It is even easier to forget that there are elections which tie us to those other towns. While we may not remember, or more likely choose to forget, the choices made now may impact us in the future.

Since 1991 Cumberland County has had but one person at the helm of the county’s office of the District Attorney. Stephanie Anderson has overseen tens of thousands of cases and scores of underlings as they all sought to make Cumberland County as safe as they could. Eventually everyone wants to take a stab, figuratively, at something new and so we will be choosing a new DA in November.

Having an open seat for the first time in generations has drawn quite a crowd to the race. Prosecutors and defense attorneys all vying for their shot to succeed a legend. There is something for everyone in this race. Of course, there are some interesting ideas.

I spent some time looking at the five candidates and the material that was put out by the campaigns and in the media. One theme became very noticeable from three of the candidates. The idea of restorative justice played prominently on one side of the aisle.

Restorative justice? I like to think that I have a fair grasp of many hot topics of the day, but I was really unsure as to what this idea was when I came across the information from the campaigns. According to the Restorative Justice Council (yes, there is such a thing), “Restorative justice brings those harmed by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward.”

In other words, lets talk about how bad this crime made me feel and that will make it all better. Think, Alcatraz meets Frasier Crane.

One of the candidates for the DA’s office posted a video on his site where he says he wants a system where the focus is not, “punishment and retribution, but justice and compassion.” Did the two people who were arrested for allegedly boosting some of the belongings from the house in Harpswell have compassion for the homeowners? Why should they receive compassion?

The same candidate wants to institute a system where cash bail is done away with for low-income offenders. He wants offenders to stay at home with their families and able to go to work.

This seems to be the same line of thinking that allowed John Williams to be released from jail with a much lighter bail than was originally assigned. He was arrested in Massachusetts on, what could be described as, a nonviolent crime. How did that allegedly turn out for the Cole family?

Another candidate wrote on their webpage, “I will help break the cycle of incarceration that disrupts people’s lives and hurts our community by using jail as a last resort.” Madame, it was not the incarceration that disrupted the person’s life, it was the crime that that person committed that disrupted their own life. Our communities were not harmed by having someone in jail. They were made safer by taking someone off of the streets who was convicted of a crime.

In most cases, justice does not have to have a rehabilitative component, it can and should be about punishment. If you stray outside of the accepted norms of society you should expect to be punished, sometimes severely. Talking about a crime’s impact on the community is fine but let’s do that after they have served their stretch.

Whichever candidate wins the prize for being the monarch of the mountain on Tuesday will feel emboldened as they head off toward November. Keep that in mind when you ask yourself if voting for an office in Portland will really affect all of us.

That’s my two cents…

Jonathan Crimmins can be reached at j_ [email protected]