Marek P. Painter
In a recent Enquirer article titled “Critics dismiss Hamilton County Integrity Unit as a ‘political stunt,’” two things caught my attention.
Firstly, that the “integrity unit” allegedly established by our prosecutor’s office is completely false. This is nothing like the “real” integrity units that other prosecutors have established; it is a mirror image. If the best practice is for someone from outside to be the manager of the unit, then the person here is one of the employees with the longest seniority. If there are parameters and practices that work best, do the opposite. This is just an election year stunt by a very tired and inbred office.
Tired and inbred? Practices – usually not the “best” ones – are passed down from generation to generation. Yes, literally. One party has held this position for almost a hundred years. And with a “win at all costs” mentality that puts conviction before justice.
This brings us to the second point, the sign. The plaque reproduced in the article hangs in the prosecutor’s office. It contains instructions given to then-Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, one of the true heroes of the Civil War, to maintain his regiment’s position at Gettysburg at all costs. Chamberlain and his men (20th Maine) accomplished this at great cost, as well as through their own courage and ingenuity. When they literally ran out of ammunition, Chamberlain led an empty-gun bayonet charge, which so surprised the enemy that they surrendered. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Chamberlain was a professor of rhetoric at Bodoin College who volunteered for the war to end slavery. He was injured many times. After the war, he was elected governor of Maine for five (one-year) terms and then became president of Bodoin. He was a true civic hero.
But pitting Little Round Top against the pro-slavery army at Gettysburg is not the same as being a prosecutor. The prosecutor’s job is not just to convict people. The prosecutor’s client is the justice system. Convicting the guilty is a victory; it is equally a victory when an innocent person is set free.
But this sign suggests that our prosecutors believe they are “holding down the fort” against evil. Unfortunately, that’s the mentality there. But this is a flawed approach, as the recent wave of wrongful conviction invalidations exposed by The Enquirer shows.
Changes in our prosecutor’s office are long overdue. It has been held by a continuous group of Republicans for over 90 years. There were both good and bad inhabitants of the office. However, no party should hold office forever. Reform would start by removing the sign and establishing a real ethics office.
Mark Painter served as a judge for exactly 30 years (Idy March 1982 – Idy March 2012). In 1994, he was elected to the Ohio Court of Appeals, serving until 2009. Previously, he served on the Hamilton County Municipal Court for 13 years. In 2009, he was elected by the General Assembly to the UN Appellate Tribunal. He was the only American on the seven-member court. He is the author of six books and hundreds of opinions published in the country.