Young understands attorney’s actions
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Editor,
There’s a letter going around written by the man who wants to replace Mitch Young as Lake County Attorney. In it, this man suggests the jigsaw puzzle in my office is a sign of office mismanagement.
He has never asked about the puzzle, and he doesn’t understand the job he covets.
Yep, I have a puzzle. I also have crayons, bubbles, candy, and whatever else I think might amuse kids. I buy these things with my own money, but they’re not for me.
As part of my job, I prosecute people who hurt children, so I have to talk to kids about horrible stuff. I have to make them describe, in vivid detail, the shameful acts perpetrated upon them. It’s painful for both of us. To say I make them relive it would be an understatement – I make them relive it in slow motion.
So, when kids come into my office, I make it easier for us to talk. I don’t sit behind my desk; I sit at the puzzle. I have them help me, and while we are looking for pieces, I explain how a trial is like a puzzle; what they tell the jury will be part of the whole picture, but only part. They just have to tell the truth; I’ll do the rest.
While they describe the abuse, we keep on with the puzzle. Why? Because they don’t want to look at me, and they don’t want me staring at them when we’re talking about the most embarrassing moments of their lives.
Yep, I’ll use puzzles and whatever else I think will help them get the words out – those dreadful, awful, unspeakable words.
This is how I do my job. Mitch Young, the current Lake County Attorney, understands and approves — he has himself prosecuted too many of these cases during his 25-year tenure.
The other fellow — the one who has spent his entire career defending perpetrators — he just doesn’t get it.
For that reason alone, there is only one candidate in the race who deserves to be Lake County Attorney.
Jessica Cole-Hodgkinson
Ronan
