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STEVEN M. FALK / Staff

Seth Williams proposes to use statistics to identify offenders most likely to repeat.

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Profile of Seth Williams, D.A. candidate

By Michael Matza

Inquirer Staff Writer

Seth Williams, Democratic candidate for Philadelphia district attorney, likes to warm up prospective voters with some stand-up.

"I have a wife, three daughters, and my mother lives with me," he wisecracked. "So you know I know how to resolve conflict."

His audience that night, about a week from Tuesday's election, consisted solely of women, from an African American service organization. They chuckled knowingly.

"Sometimes I sit and talk to the dog, Henry," he went on, "just to have a guy to talk to."

But the 42-year-old Williams swiftly put levity behind. With a poster-size map of the city as his prop, he proposed a full revamping of the District Attorney's Office, where he worked from 1992 to 2003 as a prosecutor and supervisor under outgoing District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham.

For starters, Williams said, he would assign teams of prosecutors to each of the city's 24 police districts and six detective divisions to handle cases geographically. Currently, assistant district attorneys are attached to specific courtrooms and given cases from all over the city.

Under Williams' plan, prosecutors would work consistently with the same group of police officers, community leaders, Town Watch patrols and social-service providers - a familiarity that would improve their ability to "connect the dots between offenders, victims, and neighborhoods," he said.

Citing federal statistics that 5 percent of offenders commit 60 percent of all crime, Williams proposes using risk-assessment methods - developed by criminologists at the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions - to "fast-track" cases involving offenders deemed likely to commit violence based on the trajectory of their earlier crimes. In such cases, he said, the district attorney could make the strongest possible argument for maximum sentences instead of probation.

His Republican opponent, Michael Untermeyer, wants to end plea-bargaining in all cases involving gun crimes. Williams contends that "taking every case to trial would grind the entire criminal process to a halt, at least in the big cities."

"Sometimes justice is showing mercy. Sometimes justice is asking for the maximum," Williams said yesterday. "It's a case-by-case basis."

He said he would, however, try to reduce the number of plea bargains by "shifting the prosecutorial focus from the crime to the criminal, from the seriousness of their most recent charge to the seriousness of their overall criminal record."

Rather than eliminating plea bargains, Williams said, Philadelphia needs a new law mandating jail time for the mere possession of an illegal firearm. Right now, carrying a weapon without a permit results in probation unless the defendant has a substantial criminal record.

"We need to lobby for mandatory jail sentences," said Williams. "In New York City [which mandates jail for gun crimes], we see that even [NFL star] Plaxico Burress was prosecuted and is going to jail because he possessed a firearm illegally. That's more effective."

Williams talks tough on the campaign trail about getting guns off the streets, improving witness protection, fighting municipal corruption, and needing a "chief performance officer" to identify strengths and weaknesses in the district attorney's separate units. But he said he also wants to improve relations with residents alienated by the justice system, who view it as biased, ineffective, and out of touch with the realities of their neighborhoods.

In some parts of the city, he said, the district attorney is seen more as persecutor than prosecutor.

"The D.A. needs to be seen as the protector of the community, not the oppressor," he said recently. "People have to feel there is the same standard of justice all along Germantown Avenue, from Germantown and Erie [in North Philadelphia] to Germantown and Evergreen" in Chestnut Hill.

In his effort to become the first African American district attorney in Pennsylvania, Williams has cultivated an image of tough but compassionate.

He talks about the need for better programs to help convicts reenter society after they have completed their sentences, job-skills training, and "back on track" initiatives for recovering addicts.

He also emphasizes the importance of "second chances."

Abandoned as an infant in an orphanage and adopted at age 2 by parents he grew to adore, the "second chance" theme is close to his heart, and his life story.

His record of achievements includes serving as president of Pennsylvania State University's student government, graduating from Georgetown Law School, and working three years as Philadelphia inspector general. In 2005, he ran unsuccessfully against Abraham, who is stepping down after 19 years as the city's top prosecutor.

At a recent candidates' forum, Williams spoke about his start in life.

"I know that I am standing before you not because of DNA," he said, "but because of two loving adoptive parents."

Widely viewed as the front-runner because his party's electorate outnumbers the GOP's by 8-1, Williams said "apathy" was his real opponent. He has urged his troops not to take anything for granted.

Still, his choice of a ballroom at the Radisson Plaza Warwick Hotel in which to watch Tuesday's election returns suggests he is prepared for a major celebration.

"This journey, which started in 2004, has almost come to fruition," he said. "The real challenge will come Jan. 5," when, should he win, he will take office.

For more about Seth Williams, read a profile at http://go.philly.com/sethwilliams

Contact staff writer Michael Matza at 215-854-2541 or mmatza@phillynews.com.

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Comments

Comment removed.

Posted 09:01 AM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

Williams campaign has hired John McDaniel as a consultant. In 2005, it was reported that McDaniel, a Street administration aide, allegedly stole from a nonprofit and violated the city political activity ban

Posted 09:06 AM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

Nice fluff editorial. By the way, uncovering all these questionable relationships by Williams is YOUR job Inky.

Posted 10:22 AM, 10/30/2009

Concern4Philly

SETH may be a WINNER at the polls... but JUSTICE in the courtroom will FAIL. Just as it did when Seth protected racists instead of protecting their victims. It wasn't enough that Seth prejudiced the Judge (Trier of fact/No Jury) with lies and theatrics, but even after the same Judge realized his error after wrongfully convicting them and vacated his own conviction, Seth lied to the Superior Court and overshadowed their innocence with a technicality that enabled INJUSTICE to continue. Seth would never be elected in any other city except Philadelphia, where politicians only look out for each other and not the best for all people. ---- SEE http://www.counterpunch.org/washington10212009.html ---- AND SEE http://youngphillypolitics.com/will_seth_williams_help_stop_wrongful_deportation_julio_maldonado ---- AND SEE http://youngphillypolitics.com/julio_maldonado_deported_peru ---- COME ON PHILADELPHIA - STOP THE INJUSTICE OR LIVE WITH IT - IF YOU VOTE FOR SETH ----- http://www.DenisAndJulioAndFaith.com

Posted 11:48 AM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

It should be noted. The Inky staff censored more than 6 posts I submitted earlier detailing several questionable, unethical, and illegal associations of Seth Williams. Pravda!!

Posted 12:59 PM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

Williams campaign gave election money to the 47th ward committee. The 47th ward is lead by George Brooks. Brooks was one of the city tax delinquent employees mentioned in Inquirer articles and editorials. Brook was indicted with the late Carol Campbell in 2001 for violating state election law.

Posted 01:03 PM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

All of the details of my posts are demonstrably true.

Posted 01:07 PM, 10/30/2009

phillysteev

Another race baiting Democrat.. status quo in Philly..

Posted 02:28 PM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

It is truly amazing how the Inky censors legitimate and provable posts about Williams. This paper is a damned disgrace!!

Posted 02:31 PM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

Williams campaign was beneficiary of a 2008 fundraiser co-hosted by Derek Green, a City Council staffer. Green is another of the city tax delinquent employees mentioned in Inquirer articles. If the facts in features in the Inquirer and Public Record were correct, Green violated the city political activity ban. Council staffers are not permitted to engage in any type of fundraising activities. Earlier this year, Marian Tasco, Green's boss, demanded that Ethics Board Executive Director Shane Creamer be fired after he admitted that he spoke to the media about a case before the Ethics Board. The case involved Seth Williams. Tasco and Green supported Seth Williams in the Democratic D.A. primary.

Posted 06:37 PM, 10/30/2009

Kaiser Sosa

Williams campaign provided money to Genesis IV, a political organization linked to Carol Campbell. The organization's treasurer, Edgar Campbell, refused to comply with a subpoena issued by the Philadelphia Board of Ethics