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FEBRUARY 23 - MARCH 1, 2023 | PAGE 19
Incumbent Finds Primary Challenger In Former Deputy
Continued from Page 4
of delays in recent data, much evidence is anecdotal. The latest annual report from the Arlington Police Department showed an overall crime increase of 4.8 percent from 2020 to 2021. (The Falls Church rate is about half of Arlington’s, according to an analysis by bestplaces.net.) And he agrees on the value of restorative justice, despite her skepticism of his commitment. “It is an invaluable tool in the justice arsenal,” he says, stressing its natural applicability in schools for such issues as bullying or destruction of property. “But it’s going to require a lot more work for the community to become fluent in this concept. No one wants to feel that this justice practice is being inflicted on them.” Her charge that he is “not a reformer is blatantly political,” Katcher says. “She knows I believe in reform. I spent more time sitting with Parisa talking and writing about my philosophy than most kids applying for college.” His decision to quit a job he loved was done
“with a heavy heart.” When there’s a changeover in the Commonwealth attorney job, staff prosecutors are “not automatically rehired and sworn in,” so he competed well enough to stay on and later win the deputy job. “What we’re really talking about is the value of relationships—with judges, police, victims,” he adds, citing his experience leading the Bar Association and teaching law classes. Katcher’s version of reform would mean “drawing a line between the cases the county wants prosecuted—murder, rape, gangs, drug trafficking—on which the left and right agree, and on the other side where “policy has failed”—treatment of the mentally ill, the homeless, the addicted, youth offenders. “Police officers and judges increasingly are open-minded about giving defendants treatment,” he says. “If we describe the law-andorder approach as ‘one size-fits-all for incarceration,’ my reforms say, ‘Let’s humanize and contextualize, with a more nuanced approach.’ Katcher would like to see “a second genera-
tion of prosecutors like me take hold of the reform baton and run with it.” Dehghani-Tafti rejects the notion of rising crime—she’s aware of a recent study by Smartasset.com listing Arlington among the safest localities. “It’s more visible now, with reform prosecutors increasing crime reporting,” she says. “No one person can make crime go away—it’s cyclical—and people have lost faith in institutions,” she adds. “I saw cracks in the system” exposed by the pandemic—displacement, suffering, grief, trauma, “like we’ve never seen before. Small things like road rage,” she adds. The county’s Human Services Department can’t retain enough clinicians when mental health complaints are rising. She is upbeat, however, about the rise in cases being diverted to the special drug court, which she would like to see expanded. The incumbent has been endorsed by top Democrats: Rep. Don Beyer and state Sen. Jennifer McClellan (recently elected to U.S. Congress); County Clerk Paul
Ferguson; Del. Patrick Hope and former Del. Jennifer Carol Foy; county board members Matt de Ferranti and Takis Karontonis; and former school board member Monique O’Grady. Katcher plans to announce endorsements later this spring. The Arlington Committee on Police has yet to endorse, says president Randall Mason, as they’re concentrating on pay and vacancy issues. “We try not to be political in races such as for county board,” he says. “But this election has a direct impact,” so they will endorse before June. Katcher is confident he raised more money than Dehghani-Tafti in the last quarter, “which shows an appetite for this challenge among the community and small donors—people power,” he says. The incumbent rejects the frequent criticism that she accepts too much outside money from Restorative Justice advocates. “Look at what I’ve raised on my own locally,” she says. “Because the role of a prosecutor is misunderstood, a lot of
the campaign is about education to reach people. That takes money.” Walking in Falls Church, Katcher feels a “receptiveness to his arguments,” characterizing the smaller community as “similar to Arlington in that people are tuned in to what they want from [the] government, with high expectations.” Dehghani-Tafti says Police Chief Mary Gavin, while working with her well on serious cases, has “instilled a sense that feels like community policing. Falls Church is not quick to penalize, and each official makes the effort to be part of the community.” She also says she now has “good relationships with police and judges,” casting herself as a “problem solver. I have tried very hard to build relationships and find common ground while maintaining distance and professionalism,” she says. “I can’t do it and keep everyone happy while making unpopular decisions. Change is hard. It’s not fast or easy.”
The Diplomatic Reach: All Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills Defeated in Richmond by Brian Reach
Falls Church News-Press
Most of us wake up each morning with at least a vague sense that it’s the year 2023 — and for the Republican Party this is unacceptable, so they are hell-bent on bringing back vintage homophobia this year, evident in a wave of legislation across the country targeting LGBTQ+ rights — and terrorizing trans youth in particular. The ACLU is currently tracking 321 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across 34 state legislatures, including twelve in Virginia, most intentionally crafted to irreparably harm trans youth, physically and emotionally. The Republican party has identified trans issues as a “red meat” issue that Republicans can latch onto to survive their primaries, where extreme positions are rewarded and bipartisan appeal, to which candidates often pivot for the general election, is punished. In most of these states, gerrymandering has made the primary the only election that matters. Enter the common red herrings about bathrooms, sports, and “grooming,” — made bold-faced by the right even as trans students continue to not harm society, but instead are true victims of actual harm. The gaslighting and misdirection is fairly consistent (i.e. the “Critical Race Theory” panic). Racism is a prob-
lem; teaching children actual history is not. Hate crimes are a problem; laws protecting LGBTQ+ folks are not. School safety is a problem; but because of guns, not a half-baked theory about trans “groomers.” If anything, the current generation of school-age youth has shown a natural competence and compassion that leaps far beyond anything shown by society at-large. Nothing about this is weird to them other than the obsession some seem to have about the private lives of others. Cathryn Oakley, State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel for Human Rights Campaign (HRC), described the anti-LGBTQ+ movement as deceitful by design during a virtual briefing on the record-breaking legislative onslaught. “We know that these bills don’t sit well with the general electorate, but for most of these legislators, [that] isn’t their target demo.” Oakley said, in a reference to district gerrymandering. “These organizations do not care whether trans folks are able to give informed consent… they are working on banning gender affirming care for everybody.” Indeed, embedded in legislation regarding youth were clauses obviously targeting the adult LGBTQ+ community, including one eliminating tax deductions for health care premiums for plans that cover gender affirming care.
“A good-faith person might be under the impression that whether to provide gender-affirming care is controversial,” added Kelley Robinson, HRC President, “[but] gender affirming care is supported by every credible medical organization.” She said they’re spending a lot of time debunking numerous falsehoods in the bills. The Senate Education and Health Committee was pivotal in defeating most bills this year, killing all six Senate bills (SB791, SB911, SB960, SB962, SB1186, and SB1203) and both House bills that passed (HB1387 and HB2432). Northern Virginia Senators Dick Saslaw (D-Falls Church) and Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) both serve on the committee and helped prevent the laws from advancing. Four additional bills never made it out of the House. “This session, anti-LGBTQ+ bills in the Virginia legislature targeted young people — especially trans and nonbinary youth — further stigmatizing them at home, at school and in their communities.” said Narissa Rahaman, Executive Director of Equality Virginia (EV), which had to expand its single annual Lobby Day into five separate events in order to keep up, “Schools should be safe spaces for all youth, and especially those who may face discrimination or feel singled out because of who they
VOLUNTEERS MEET WITH legislators during one of Equality Virginia’s five “Lobby Days” this year. (Photo: Equality Virginia) are.” The bills were all defeated thanks to the razor-thin Democratic majority in the Senate and efforts of organizations like EV. “We saw a groundswell of opposition to these bills. We saw everyday Virginians show up in fierce opposition to all twelve bills and send a message that hate is not a Virginia value.” continued Rahaman. “While we have a long way to go to make our schools more equitable places for all youth, defeating these bills is a big deal.”
Rahaman has a message for trans youth: “To the trans youth in the commonwealth, I want to say: you are loved, you are perfect just the way you are, you are beautiful and you are worthy. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” This year’s election is pivotal for the Commonwealth, with the entire Virginia House and Senate up. Please make a plan to vote — many of these bills were just a couple votes away from becoming law, which should be unacceptable to everybody in the year 2023.