The two Democratic candidates for the Monroe County Prosecuting Attorney, Erika Oliphant and Benjamin Arrington, clashed over marijuana policy, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and homelessness during a candidate forum Thursday.
The forum was hosted by the Bloomington Democratic Socialists of America.
Oliphant is the current prosecuting attorney for Monroe County. She became the first woman elected to that office in Monroe County in 2018 and is running for her third term. In a press release announcing her candidacy, she listed her achievements securing grants and services that help the county support victims of violence and prosecute sex and domestic violence crimes.
Arrington is a staff attorney at Pro Bono Indiana Inc.’s District 10 office, providing free legal services to low-income Indiana residents for family and eviction cases. If elected, Arrington said during the forum his goal is to stop prosecuting people for simple marijuana possession if they had less than one ounce on them. He also said he would “stand with” nurses, doctors and women in reproductive right cases.
Arrington said he was a high school dropout who later attended IU’s Maurer School of Law and he spoke about growing up in poverty and experiencing homelessness.
“I stand before you as a person who’s been through adversities, who’s had struggles, made mistakes, and is not perfect at all,” he said. “Which is why I sit in a unique position to have a unique lens when making prosecutorial decisions.”
The candidates were asked what democratic socialism means to them. Arrington described himself as a long-term supporter of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders who believes in fairness, livable wages and taking stands against unjust laws.
“Your prosecutor is your last chance to protect you from unlawful, unright laws that may be on the books from a super powerful majority of Republicans that are in the General Assembly,” Arrington said.
Oliphant defined Democratic socialism as ensuring everyone has the opportunity to thrive without fear that a medical emergency or financial setback will lead to bankruptcy or homelessness. She cautioned, however, against sweeping public declarations about refusing to prosecute certain laws.
“Making these categorical statements that we’re not going to prosecution cases isn’t going to have any practical change on the way my office operates or the cases that we’re actually focusing on,” Oliphant said.
Candidates were then asked how they would respond to proposed state legislation that would make camping on public property a class C misdemeanor.
Oliphant called the measure “an awful law” and said jail is not a solution to homelessness.
Arrington took a similar stance.
“Jail is for people that are criminally violent. That’s who my office will be locking up only. Violent people who break the law and are violent,” he said. “Homelessness and being unhoused is not violence.”
In response to a question about state legislation requiring universities and governmental bodies to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, Arrington said he would publicly oppose ICE enforcement actions targeting children. It’s unclear how the legislation would affect K-12 schools, Chalkbeat Indiana reported.
“No child should be in fear because of ICE, nor should a teacher,” he said.
Oliphant said it would be unethical for her to provide legal advice to anyone outside of her deputy prosecutors or those working with her but encouraged reliance on safety-planning resources from community organizations like Exodus Refugee Immigration.
She said that if she has evidence that anyone, including any law enforcement officer, has violated Indiana law, “no badge of authority is going to keep anybody safe from prosecution.”
The two candidates were also asked about the county’s use of Flock Safety license plate reader cameras. Advocates and some elected officials in Bloomington allege Flock is sharing license plate data with ICE and other federal agencies.
Last month, the city released its unredacted contract with the public safety technology company after months of requests. According to the ACLU, Flock was sharing data from its national license plate scanner network in Massachusetts with ICE.
The Flock system comes with two Condor pan tilt zoom cameras, panoramic video cameras, flashing deterrent lights, a two-way “talk down” speaker and access to Flock’s online platform and mobile app. Bloomington has a total of 40 Flock cameras.
“They are a law enforcement tool,” Oliphant said. “And when they were installed, I believe that they have been used to make sure that we are, you know, able to apprehend and prove criminal cases.”
She said the Flock cameras were recently used in an attempted murder case she prosecuted. However, she still said she understands and supports community concerns about Flock’s data access and potential misuses by federal authorities and believes the community should have a public debate about whether its worth having the “tool.”
Arrington called for immediate removal of the cameras.
“Flock cameras need to go,” he said. “What in the flock is going on here?”
In response to a question about protecting residents and their right to speech and protest against federal policies, Arrington said he would stand alongside demonstrators.
“I’m going to be out protesting with the people,” he said.
Oliphant said she has a record of declining to charge peaceful protestors and emphasized protecting First Amendment rights. She said that she would not attend protest because it would create conflicts requiring appointment of a special prosecutor if she was at a protest where she may be a witness of a crime.
The second candidate forum will be 6 p.m. March 5 at First United Church. Here, candidates running for Statehouse District 61 and Congress District 9 will debate state and congressional issues.
The primary election in Monroe County will be held May 5.
