I have experience in civil and family law but my expertise is criminal law since I have been a prosecutor for 30 years. The Rule of Professional Conduct 3.8 Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor states that "A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply an advocate". A prosecutor represents the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania which includes the criminal defendant. I have a reputation as a tough but fair prosecutor: tough on violent crime but smart on nonviolent crime. I run all the Chester County Diversionary programs which are designed to deal with minor level offenders who we try to get back into society as productive citizens rather than paying the cost of jailing them. These programs include Veteran's Court, the 1st offender program (ARD), and the Drug and Mental Health Court programs. These programs deal with an offender's underlying problems, whether caused by the effects of combat, addiction or mental health problems. We stress personal responsibility and our programs have been used as models by other counties because of our great success rate.
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