Dennis L. Stout
Today I am announcing my decision not to seek the Office of District Attorney of San Bernardino County.
From a very early age all I dreamed about was being a public prosecutor. After 17 years as a Deputy District Attorney, I realized my ultimate dream in 1994 when I was elected District Attorney. I ran unopposed in 1998 and was reelected to a second term. During those eight years we accomplished a complete rebuild of the office from the ground up. We implemented over 50 new programs.
We positioned the office so that it could become the best prosecutorial agency in the state.
The one thing that was always foremost in my mind was that the District Attorney is a professional prosecutor and not a professional politician. I believed then and I believe even more so now that there is no place for politics in a district attorney’s office. The major reason I considered another run for office is my belief that the current incumbent has violated every principle that I consider important for a public prosecutor. He has used the power of his office to gain political advantage. I believe that once an election is over the politics stop.
Politics should never be the motivation for a prosecution.
The recent corruption prosecutions are a case in point. I am not going to address the merits of the cases at this point but I do have some strong opinions about how they have been handled. If there was wrongdoing then I am concerned that it will go unpunished because of the political methods that have been used. By that I mean the unending theatrics and repeated arrests of the same defendants while ignoring the conduct of those who have engaged in identical behavior. There is an obvious appearance of conflict between the District Attorney and the defendants. The District Attorney at one point was communicating with one of the defendants and giving him legal advice. The District Attorney posted on his campaign website a letter disparaging one of the defendants.
If it turns out that the defendants are not guilty of any criminal wrong doing then the question about motivation of the District Attorney changes from one of just political exploitation of the system to something much more sinister. Under the federal law it is a malfeasance under color of law. We are all familiar with Michael Nifong who used his prosecutorial office to file charges against three Duke La Crosse players hoping to obtain votes from a particular community. He was eventually exposed for what he was and is now no longer in a position to abuse his office.
I came to the realization that in order to defeat an incumbent who virtually eats, sleeps and breathes politics that I would have to become more like him. It is simply something that I cannot do. I can’t threaten the contributors of my opponents with criminal investigations like the incumbent did recently in a local news story. I can’t arrest people who are presumed to be innocent under our laws, who are not a flight risk or a continuing danger to society just so that I can get a headline on the front page. I can’t hide information from the public that is their right to see because it makes me look bad. I can’t take money from the good ole boys club that controls the majority of our elected officials.
I simply can’t do it.
I am going to continue to watch what goes on in our county, and if I feel the urge, I will continue to exercise my first amendment right.
I am sorry to hear this. We had great hopes of getting a professional prosecutor back into office. You are right about professional politicians. They have no place in an office like this. I hear he has a very expensive consultant. Campaign consultants are paid a lot of money to make lies look like truth and to make the truth look like lies; to make good people look bad and in this case to make bad people look good. I wonder how he is going to make being an adulterer/sexual predator into a positive.
Dennis your integrity is showing…proud to be a fellow blogger with you …your insight through the next few months will be so important to the voters of this county…you know the machine from the inside-out…expose it…most folks don’t have a clue….looking forward to your posts….would like to hear from you on how three strikes could be improved….and something less insane than paul chabots approach to medical cannabis…and of course your slant on ongoing corruption…you have a lot of power…now that you’ved decided not to run…go kick some political ass…and have a little fun while you do it!
Sorry to hear the news Mr. Stout. You have given much already. Thank you for your many years of service
Sorry to hear your not going to run, but I sure can respect the reason’s you set forth.
Do speak up from time to time and allow those who don’t know the process to read your perspectives on the very issues you commented on.
California law makes the DA position and the sheriff position directly accoutable to the people to prevent an absolute political machine encompassing the supervisors, the DA, and the sheriff that would encompass and overwhelm the people. So the position of sheriff and DA is both 100% professional and 100% political.
Good luck to anyone who can fulfill both functions without becomeing conflicted.
If you are not going to run, Dennis, then I think that you owe the people an endorsement.
Steve, the point I was making is that once an election is over, you have to set aside the political and use the professional. This position more than any other requires that. I believe that the over politization of the office is wrong and it will eventually be his downfall. He reminds me of Richard Nixon who became so paranoid that he destroyed himself. The office cannot make decisions based on the recommendations of a campaign consultant.
Your example of a corrupt Board of Supervisors underlines this problem. What if all of these people did break the law but get off because the DA didn’t play by the rules. It is a very real possibility here.
And your endorsement?
LOL. Mr. Stout if I remember correctly Politics seemed to be the last thing you were concerned about as District Attorney….. and that was a good thing!
The problem isn’t just with the DA’s office. Unfortunately this County has a culture of playing to the will of whichever Politico of the moment wants to make the papers. It’s so entrenched that every single mgmt program that they County promotes lists “Political savy” as one of the things you need to be sucessfult in County Management.
Mr. Stout I wish you were running but since you’re not keep the posts coming.
Some time ago I wrote an essay that I posted on iePolitics about my opinion on endorsements. I thought they were worthless then and I still do…mine included. Endorsements are something you tout when you don’t have any real accomplishments.
Paul Chabot has tons of endorsements!..and not much else…
Proper decision. And don’t try to ever run for any public office again. Get some anger management and some alcohol counseling, and get a job at Burger King.
Angleton, you are an idiot. Stout doesn’t drink and he is one of the most even tempered people I have had the pleasure to work for. He was also the best Mayor Rancho Cucamonga has ever had. That city is the way it is largely because of his visionary thinking. You need to focus on Ramos who is a heavy drinker and worse. Oh yeah your blog sucks. You need to see a shrink.