ANOTHER OPINION: Stop Criminalizing Politics

The news last week that former Democratic Pennsylvania House Whip Mike Veon has been awarded a new trial – after he already lost his position and served time for taking advantage of a nonprofit – is yet another case of prosecutorial overreach. As such, it has been added to the growing mound of evidence that elected officials have become, in the words of one of the state high court justices in the Veon case, victims of “the criminalization of politics.”

Veon joins a long list of politicians, including recent high-profile targets like PA Sen. Larry Farnese and former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who have been hauled into both criminal court and the court of public opinion for simply doing their jobs according to the traditions and parameters that have been established through centuries of American democracy. As demonstrated by last week’s ruling, this line of pursuit is not working.

We are not calling for law enforcement to abandon its efforts to ensure corrupt politicians are removed from the public sphere. Nor are we calling for the canonization of politics as usual; as indicated by last month’s election, that approach is no longer a viable one in the long term.

All we ask is that politicians be allowed to do their job – the people’s work – without fear of prosecution for doing so.

Challenging the Results
Two different processes are going on in efforts to revisit the Nov. 8 election which awarded Pennsylvania’s electoral votes to Donald Trump.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein is contesting the election in court. In order to succeed, she must present compelling evidence that vote counts were mishandled or manipulated. This action is not a “recount,” although in theory it could lead to further recounting of votes. Let the court speak.

On a division-by-division basis, individuals are pursuing their right to request a recount in several counties. But many counties have already finished certifying their vote totals, so the option of recounting is closed there. Mathematically, no one should expect these local recounts to change much.

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