[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] marriage

[Marti Wilkinson]

I truly appreciate the contributions made by Belden and Bob in this
discussion. Both gentlemen managed to make some salient points in regards to
how our personal relationships can have an impact on the decisions we make.

The manner in which Julia Rietz's personal life has been brought up has
implied that her marriage makes her somehow incapable of performing the
functions of her office. Now if we had a candidate named John Rietz and his
wife worked for the police department would voters be as quick to judge? For
me that is where the sexism comes into play.

As the incumbent the best way to evaluate Rietz's qualifications is by
looking at her record with a critical eye. In looking at her leniency in
prosecuting members of law enforcement we also need to consider the type of
organizational culture that the States Attorneys office operates in. In
order for a States Attorneys office to be effective in prosecuting
defendants a solid professional relationship with law enforcement needs to
be in place. This can create an imbalance if these professional
relationships do not include organizations that also address the inequities
in our system.

One of the reasons why Rietz won the last election is due to what appeared
to be a willingness on her part to build relationships with organizations
like CUCPJ.  Chris Evans brought up a comment that Rietz made about how her
detractors are in support of criminals and this is an excerpt of what I
posted on another blog.

*In the podcast Ivy mentioned that members of the African American community
have long memories. They remember the promises she made and the promises she
didn't keep. Additionally I agree with Rietz that no one ought to judge her
for being married to a police officer. However, her statement that anyone
who does have an issue with this is on the side of the criminals is just as
wrong. Being critical of an elected official is a basic right - even if the
criticisms are misguided. Do I believe that she has treated law enforcement
with more leniency than necessary? Yes, however I believe that has more to
do with the long-standing organizational culture of the office and not her
personal life.

*Has anyone noticed how Rietz responds to direct criticisms of her record?
She is rude, she interrupts people, and she will refuse to answer simple
questions. In the podcast of her debate with Ivy she would cut in on his
comments and I found her tone to be quite nasty. As a public official she
needs to learn how to exercise more diplomacy.

Just some of my thoughts on the subject.

Peace, Marti





On Feb 3, 2008 5:21 PM, Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com> wrote:

> When one is being interviewed to serve on a jury in a criminal case,
> one of the standard questions is whether one has a relative in law
> enforcement. Even our criminal justice system as it exists today
> recognizes that this is a potential source of bias, and might color
> someone's  judgment.
>
> On Feb 3, 2008 5:01 PM, Belden Fields <a-fields at uiuc.edu> wrote:
> > I am not saying that the issue of her marriage should be the one that
> > is most out front in any campaign to unseat her.   Marti is right, it
> > is her behavior is that is at issue.   I am simply saying that there
> > is a problem there that perhaps partially explains her behavior and
> > and that it is not sexist to point it out.
> > Belden
> > _______________________________________________
> > Peace mailing list
> > Peace at lists.chambana.net
> > http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> _______________________________________________
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> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
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>
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