FORT LAUDERDALE – Former federal prosecutor Chris Mancini’s campaign to unseat the current Broward State Attorney—who was first elected to the office in 1976, the year Jimmy Carter was elected president—takes on a new dimension tomorrow, when the candidate officially qualifies for his run for office, and his name goes on the ballot.
Mancini, a criminal attorney and former litigator with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, says that a major part of his election strategy with be support from Broward’s large gay community. “I have served the LGBTQ community with Pride for over a decade,” says Mancini. “I understand the importance and needs of this community, and also realize their potential power and influence.”
Mancini, whose previous courtroom trial experience includes the Miami Rivers Cops case, says there is plenty of room for improvement in the way cases are prosecuted under the current system. “As a lawyer, I see many problems with the judicial system in Broward County, and how groups and individuals can be targeted,” he notes. “Unfortunately the current State Attorney’s Office has been ineffective and inefficient in addressing these problems. The 36-year-old system created by the current State Attorney just does not meet our needs.”
If he is elected, Mancini would like to establish an initiative he calls “’Justice Without Prejudice,’ where you do not receive special favors if you have power or money, or suffer undue persecution if you are poor or a member of a minority group.”
Mancini is calling for “a new way of approaching the issues, with new solutions. We need to implement restorative justice programs that have reduced recidivism by 50 percent in states where these programs are used.” He also stressed the “need to fight corruption on all levels of government. We need to ensure that there is one standard of justice; that you do not get special treatment if you have money or a badge.”
Mancini’s campaign headquarters will open on Friday to an invited group at his office at 908 N Federal Hwy, in Fort Lauderdale.
