DA candidates for Cape & Islands meet at forum. Here's where they stand on the issues

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated at 2:42 p.m. on Oct. 14 to add a link to watch the candidates' forum on the Cape Media Center's YouTube page.

WEST BARNSTABLE — While public safety is top priority for Cape and Islands district attorney candidates Robert Galibois and Daniel Higgins, new visions for the position also took the stage during Wednesday's candidate forum.

The forum, which also hosted sheriff candidates Donna Buckley and Tim Whelan, brought Democrat Galibois and Republican Higgins together to inform the community about the direction each candidate will take, if elected.

Galibois, of Barnstable, is a defense attorney, and Higgins, of West Barnstable, is an assistant district attorney for the Cape and Island's District Attorney's Office.

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As questions were asked by Sarah Carlon, a reporter for the Cape Cod Times; and Debra Dagwan of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition, Inc., candidates discussed topics including transparency, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and the Work and Family Mobility Act.

.Each candidate was also asked questions by community members, and gave insight into a myriad of topics that will impact local people once a new district attorney takes office in January.

The forum was hosted by the Times; League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area; Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition, Inc.; and Cape Media Center.

Will Brady lists be open to the public?

A Giglio or Brady list, usually compiled by a prosecutor's office or a police department, contains the names and details of law enforcement officers who have had sustained incidents of untruthfulness, criminal convictions, candor issues, or types of issues placing credibility into question.

While current district attorney Michael O'Keefe doesn't make Brady lists available to the public, Higgins said accountability for police officers is important. As prosecutors, he said, Brady letters are sent to involved police departments and department chiefs notify the district attorney's office if officers have had a finding of untruthfulness.

"We owe that to defendants to protect their rights. And we want to ensure the integrity of our prosecutions and our convictions because we owe that to the public and to the victims of violent crimes," he said.

Higgins said he will ensure that his district attorney's office complies with the law under Brady and Giglio.

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"I will ensure that we do not put officers on the stand who have violated that," he said.

While Galibois agrees with the current procedure put in place regarding Brady lists, to promote full accountability and transparency, he said his office would be consistent with other district attorney offices across the state, and make Brady lists available to the public.

"That's not something unique," he said. "That's something already going on (at district attorney offices) across the state."

Transparency and communication with the press

When asked how he would communicate with the press, should he be elected, Galibois called the press an extension of the community and said he would employ an open door policy.

"We will be readily accessible to the press. We won't rely on the issuances of press releases and will return to press conferences. You will get a live body," he said. "That's important to accountability and transparency and we commit to answering your questions correctly."

During the reading of the question, Carlon, a Times reporter, said the O'Keefe administration hasn't prioritized communication with the press, including Times reporters. Despite that assertion, Higgins said he believes in transparency and said it's important that the district attorney's office assuages concerns of the community, after an especially violent act.

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"My door will always be open to everyone — the press, those who voted for me, and those that didn't vote for me," he said.

But Higgins also said the district attorney's office is required to balance privacy aspects of individuals, and keep the integrity of the juror pool through to the end of a significant prosecution.

"We have to be careful not to try a case in public. There are emotions that run high on cases of violence, domestic violence, sexual assaults," he said. "We have to be very careful to respect the privacy of the victim, and the interests and right to a trial of a defendant."

Will the future DA prioritize the recruitment of prosecutors of color?

While Higgins believes the district attorney's office should reflect the makeup of the community, he said the current district attorney's office has a good balance of men and women.

In order to recruit prosecutors from a range of cultural backgrounds, he said he will make it a point to reach out to Boston-based law schools, and engage with the YMCA Young Achiever's program, which has a branch location on Cape.

"I do believe in recruiting the best and brightest. I welcome the applications of all, including those from communities that may be underrepresented or underserved," he said.

"I would continue to support the YMCA Young Achievers program," he said. "It would be wonderful for someone to come back from that program, after going off to college and then law school to return to serve. Our office should reflect the community and I would like to see more advocacy."

While it couldn't be confirmed with O'Keefe, Galibois pointed out that there hasn't been an assistant district attorney of color at the current district attorney's office since 1994. If he is elected, Galibois said he will utilize contacts he's made working as a defense attorney across the state to fill open seats at the district attorney's office with attorneys of color.

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"There are a lot of great attorneys out there that are minorities that want to come work for me," he said.

After the November elections, should he win the seat, Galibois said he would use the months before his January swearing-in to pull a team together to address diversity, equity and inclusion concerns. Currently, he said, no such committee exists at the district attorney's office.

"There will be the ongoing recruitment of minority members across the Commonwealth and here on the Cape as well," he said

How will candidates build databases of information reflecting racial makeups of incarceration, arrests?

Ongoing data collection is critical to identify how the district attorney's office is doing, said Galibois.

"When you collect data it shows how you are handling cases, and you can see and scrutinize yourself," he said. "You can tell if you are handling people equally."

In order for the data to have an impact, Galibois said it also needs to be shared with the public.

"This goes to transparency and accountability," he said. "Not only would we be scrutinizing ourselves and our performance, we are opening up to public scrutiny so we can improve our abilities, and provide public safety."

While Higgins voiced his commitment to transparency, he said it's up to the court system to track racial and ethnic data.

"It's not right for a prosecutor to go up to a person and ask them how they identify or guess from their appearance or booking photo," he said. "The court, however, is the best mechanism to collect neutral, reliable data."

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Galibois countered Higgins' suggestion and said the district attorney's office is capable of maintaining data concerning racial identity and ethnic background, because individuals already self-identify during the booking process. That information is then shared with the courts and the district attorney's office.

"Defendants are interviewed by the probation department before arraignment and again they self identify about a particular racial and ethnic background," he said. "The DAs office gets the same paperwork as the court and the DAs office is fully capable in maintaining that data as well."

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For Higgins, driving within the Commonwealth is a privilege, not a right. It's important to know who has a license, he said.

"The voters should decide on it and not just the legislature. We need to be careful who we are providing licenses to in terms of identity," he said. "If we give licenses out without knowing where they are coming from, and what their record is, and their true identity, that is a slippery slope."

The process of undocumented migrants obtaining a license, said Galibois, includes providing authorities with two forms of identification. He fully trusts law enforcement officials to examine the authenticity of those documents.

"There are 16 other states that passed a similar law before we did, and I fully suggest there has not been any uptick in crime with the issuance of these licenses to undocumented workers," he said. "There has not been any uptick in voter fraud since these licenses were handed out. What has increased auto insurances policies. And that keeps us all safer."

People of color overrepresented across criminal justice system

Galibois reflected a Mass, Inc. study, which showed that while African Americans living on Cape make up 2.9 % of the overall regional population, they make up 25% of the pre-trial detention and jail population.

"This isn't just a racial disparity it's a complete breakdown of the system," he said. "We need to keep data. We need to see how we are handling certain cases so we can ensure that we are maintaining fundamental fairness across the board."

Higgins said he believes the court system is the neutral arbiter that should be keeping data. In addition, he said it would be helpful for the Massachusetts District Attorney's Association to obtain funding for an updated data management system.

"We want a uniform process across the state of Massachusetts. We don't want piecemeal information across the state," he said. "We need uniformity across the Commonwealth.

Including the collection of data, Higgins said, there needs to be a conversation held with the community and elected leaders about interpreting that data.

"There are other disparities out there that could be playing into the disparity we are discussing right now," he said. "Such as financial, and educational disparities. We need to get to the root causes."

Prosecutorial discretion in relation to substance abuse, trauma, and mental illness

District court can be the front line when it comes to issues surrounding mental health and substance abuse disorder, said Higgins. It's important that a district attorney take all of the factors associated with mental health issues into account and work with police departments who compile information about individuals in the field. Prosecutors can then take that information and decide if they will request that a judge summon a court clinician to do an evaluation for competency to stand trial.

Some people with mental health issues are never arraigned, he said, and others have their cases dismissed when it's appropriate, and are given a path to treatment.

"Not only are we helping the person, we are helping the community prevent recidivism. At that moment the interest for all of us dovetails nicely with the interest of the individual," he said. "Sometimes it takes the court system encouraging someone into treatment by way of the criminal process."

As a defense attorney, Galibois said he's seen mental health specialties sessions throughout counties across the state and hasn't heard anyone in the current Cape and Island's district attorney's office demanding a mental health session.

If elected, Galibois said he will work with the trial court to initiate a mental health session within the district court.

"That means the professionals in the field come right into the courtroom and work directly with the defendant. They work with the judges, the probation officers the prosecutors and defense attorneys," he said. "And they work to get to the core issue of what is causing this person to struggle. And then they work to treat that core issue."

You can watch the Barnstable County Sheriff and Cape and Islands District Attorney candidate forums on the Cape Media Center's YouTube channel starting the week of Oct. 17.Gain access to premium Cape Cod Times content by subscribing. 

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: DA candidates for Cape & Islands meet at forum. Here's what they said