Three candidates state priorities and goals in hot district-attorney three-way race

 

 

UPDATE: This post has been updated with links to ongoing coverage of the DA race.

WILLIAMSTOWN --  Three candidates for Berkshire district attorney stated the priorities and goals during a one-hour Q-and-A "debate" hosted by Williams College and organized by the town's League of Women Voters.  Approximately 75 people attended.   (Read iBerkshires account of July 31 debate in Williamstown). 

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE:

• All of the DA race coverage by iBerkshires is linked from the bottom of THIS STORY
• WAMC Williamstown event coverage: "Berkshire DA office undertakes reforms mid-campaign" 
• Berkshire Eagle, Aug. 2: "DA candidates believe background key for the office"

PHOTOS FROM THE DEBATE:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oYQ8vAaR9qzjxDcYTmNKujTbrZgWIDHU

VIDEOS:

Your No. 1 priority: Three candidates reply:
https://youtu.be/0steSshWDHA

What's the goal of the DA's office?
Caccaviello replies:
https://youtu.be/2iEetBWUxLk

Knight and Harrington reply:
https://youtu.be/Bx8rShASnfA

Closing statements by all three candidates:
https://youtu.be/ibdoMA5bT80

AUDIO OF THE WHOLE DEBATE PROGRAM: 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Wy7vZrjnJu7C_F5Xr9JjflAbQdAj8ynl

As there is no Republican candidate, the race will be decided at the state primary on Sept. 4. The forum was held in the Paresky Center auditorium on the Williams College campus. The public is invited to attend and participate.

 

Willinet taped the Forum for videocasting later this week. Public radio station WAMC also made an audio recording for delayed broadcast. 

The three candidates, in alphabetical order, are: 

• Paul J. Caccaviello, of Dalton, who graduated from Western New England College of Law in Springfield in 1989 and the former North Adams State College in 1986, has been an assistant Berkshire district attorney ever since. Caccaviello served on the Saint Agnes School Board, was a member of the Dalton Rotary Club and is a trustee of Berkshire Community College. He announced his candidacy in May  (AUDIO) in a ceremony which drew a state ethics complaint and a response from Caccaviello. 

• Andrea Harrington, an attorney at Conner and Morneau LLP who has been a criminal and civil practice attorney for 15 years. She is a graduate of Taconic High School and is a Richmond School Committee member. She ran for state senate two years ago but lost to Adam Hinds. She earned an undergraduate degree in international relations in the honors program at the University of Washington and received her law degree, cum laude from American University.

• Judith C. Knight, of Lee, served as an assistant district attorney in eastern Massachusetts from 1988 to 1993 and has had a Great Barrington private practice since 2006. Also a certified mediatory, she was an adjunct professor at Western New England School of Law from 1999-2005. She worked in the Colorado public defender's office in Denver in 1987-1988 after receiving her law degree in 1987 from Washington and Lee University in Virginia. She ran and lost to incumbent David Capeless in a 2006 primary bid for DA. She announced her candidacy in May.

Capeless retired earlier this year  (AUDIO) and Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, appointed Caccaviello to fill his expired term until November. (See: "A Massachusetts DA tries to crown his successor" by Eoin Higgins, June 26, 2018)

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Related: "How Capeless plotted succession plan"(Commonwealth Magazine, May 17, 2018)

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The last day to register to vote in the September primary is Aug. 15.  The Williamstown meeting of the three candidates was one of several between now and the Sept. 4 primary.  Their first faceoff was on May 16.

 

SOURCES FOR ADDITIONAL VIDEO VIEWING

(courtesy Drew Herzig)

 
Past DA debates you can see online: 

• The one hosted by Sen. Adam Hinds in Becket on Aug. 14: 
  https://vimeo.com/285353655?ref=fb-share 
  Also covered in iBerkshires.com here: http://www.iberkshires.com/story/58128/Candidates-Double-Down-on-Talking-Points-in-DA-Debate-In-Becket.html 
  
  
• The Berkshire Brigades/CentralLabor Council sponsored debate at the American Legion:
  http://pittsfieldtv.net/CablecastPublicSite/show/29418?channel=3
  
  
• The one sponsored by the NAACP: 
  http://pittsfieldtv.net/CablecastPublicSite/show/29783?channel=3

All three candidates have campaign websites: 

• http://votecaccavielloda.com/
• http://harringtonfordistrictattorney.com/
• https://www.electjudithknight.com/

Profiles of each of the three candidates written by iBerkshires' Andrew McKeever:

 

More About Each Candidate:

 

Harrington Running to Reform District Attorney's...

July 08, 2018 | 05:15AM

If you want things to change, you need something different. That's Andrea Harrington's view when it comes to reforming the criminal justice system. And now, she wants to be that change. She is seeking election as the next district attorney following the retirement of David Capeless.

Caccaviello Leans On Experience in Race for District...

July 07, 2018 | 05:15AM

For Paul Caccaviello, the district attorney's job is a call to service. After 14 years as the first assistant district attorney, Caccaviello is looking to fill the shoes being left by David Capeless, who retired. With some 30 years as a prosecutor, Caccaviello said he has the most experience and qualifications to take over the office.

Knight Pushes Progressive Platform, Experience in DA...

July 06, 2018 | 04:00AM

Judith Knight isn't a natural politician. She's an attorney. She's a defense attorney who has spent years on the other side of a courtroom from a district attorney's office that operated in a way that she doesn't think is for the best. Back in 2006, her frustration boiled over when she watched the district attorney's office prosecute a teenager over minor drug charges and she launched a campaign to take over the office.

OTHER COVERAGE:

• iBerkshires' coverage of Aug. 2 debate in Pittsfield 
• WAMC's district attorney coverage page
• http://www.wamc.org/post/berkshire-da-candidates-clash-over-experience
• http://www.wamc.org/post/democrat-challenging-caccaviello-berkshire-da
• http://www.wamc.org/post/wives-das-past-and-present-wade-berkshire-primary-race
• http://www.wamc.org/post/berkshire-da-explains-campaign-event-hosted-felon