As election day quickly approaches, it’s easy for us to let our overwhelming fatigue cloud our democratic judgement. While much of the hysteria involves the presidential race, it’s important to consider the other races that we will be voting on this Tuesday. Notable races include the race for the United States Senate and the Ohio House of Representatives. In addition to these, we in Franklin County have the opportunity to elect a new county prosecutor for the first time since 1997.
For those who don’t know, the county prosecutor is the elected lawyer to prosecute cases on behalf of the government in Franklin County. As such, they are responsible for assembling a Grand Jury, which has the power to bring indictments on potential defendants. In addition, the prosecutor will then conduct criminal cases according to the decision of the Grand Jury. This position is a valuable one, and in a county that houses Columbus, one of the most crime-ridden cities in Ohio, the race is ever more important to our community.
On Oct. 25, our local NPR station, WOSU, crafted a piece outlining the position of the two major party candidates for this race: incumbent Republican Ron O’Brien and Democrat Zach Klein. This NPR piece does a good job of mentioning their marginal differences but fails to emphasize that there is another candidate in the race. Mentioning him only in passing, this piece of journalism deliberately ignores Green Party candidate Bob Fitrakis.
I first heard of Fitrakis before Jill Stein’s haphazard arrival at Capital University last month, where he promised he “would not prosecute anyone for a non-violent drug crime.” Since that time, I have seen Fitrakis at various community events, fighting for the marginalized and calling out the tyranny of the two party system at the local level. I am now proud to say that I will be voting for him on Tuesday, and I encourage other consciously minded students to do the same.
Fitrakis has served the local community for years, working with the Columbus Free Press, publishing various books (including some with Capital’s own Harvey Wasserman), teaching at Columbus State and running for office. He holds various degrees, including a J.D. from the Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from Wayne State University.
Fitrakis’s platform is fundamentally one of social justice. The city of Columbus is ripe for police violence, having the second greatest number of police shootings in the nation per capita, according to the Columbus Free Press.
Since 1997, when the incumbent prosecutor was elected, no Columbus police officers have been indicted for such shootings. Considering the high profile shootings of Henry Green V and Tyre King this year, the community is aching for a change in the justice system. Fitrakis takes issue with the internal investigations conducted by police.
By law, the Columbus Police Department does not have to volunteer themselves to be the subject of an independent investigation, a move that would rarely protect their interests. As it stands, they conduct all investigations internally, ensuring that their public image is protected while their statistics show they are a likely source of misconduct. Fitrakis is the only candidate in this race who unequivocally supports independent investigations.
Fitrakis’s platform also ensures various protections of civil liberties, including enforcing the Bill of Rights in Franklin County, creating a whistleblowers hotline free of potential backlash and pushing back against state and federal spying programs. In addition, as a member of the Green Party, Fitrakis’s platform does not budge with issues of the environment and climate change.
We live in a growing city with an immense population. While we are largely prosperous, we still have tremendous amounts of crime. Community distrust of the police is at an all-time high after the local shootings of this summer and the climate of police violence nationwide.
These two issues suggest we ought to take a different approach to criminal justice in our society. By not prosecuting non-violent drug crimes, we keep citizens on the streets, reduce administrative costs and free up police officers to do more important jobs. Putting pressure on the Columbus Division of Police ensures that all Columbus citizens get fair treatment, and makes the department democratically accountable.
Neither of the two major party candidates have substantive plans to address these issues. Only by electing Bob Fitrakis to the county prosecutor position can we break the status-quo and make Columbus a twenty-first century model for criminal justice.
Nick Bochenek is a senior philosophy and history major, president of Philosophy Club and the Socialist Student Union, who plans to attend grad school in philosophy after graduation.
