Last night, at Easton's Shiloh Chapel, challenger Steve Baratta and incumbent Terry Houck argued why they deserve election. Since neither pitch is terribly long, I'll let the candidates speak for themselves.
Steve Baratta in Seven Minutes
Terry Houck in Eight Minutes
20 comments:
Terrence Houck is one Sikh puppy, his lap dog O'Hara carries more water for him than a Roman aqueduct.
HOUCK has been solidified as a face on Man Crush mountain alongside McClueless, Angle, Morganelli, and Stoffa
Bernie - your obsession with Baratta is becoming nauseating. Why do you believe Terry needs so much of your help to win, if he's the better candidate? Since January you have been on a vendetta. You know the office is in shambles and you stay silent. Instead, you seek to keep the turmoil and discriminative behavior that is rampant in that office alive. Please seek help.
I agree with Bratta on the Death Row Inmates if your giving death that inmate should be put to death with 1 year. CASE CLOSED that would free up ALOT of Space in our Jail's & save TAX PAYERS MONEY THE OLD SAYING USED TO GO ( DO THE CRIME DO THE TIME ) This does not Apply anymore in the justice system.
8:25, There is nothing in this story to indicate I support either candidate. In fact, instead of providing my own summary, I let the candidates speak for themselves. I am giving a lot of coverage to this race because, next to Executive, the District Attorney's Office is the most consequential in the county. Moreover, people need to be informed about the numerous attacks made by Baratta and Houck's responses to them.
The person who has been on a vendetta since January is Baratta. People have noticed. The fault for that lies with him, not me. It is not I who filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Board attacking the integrity of three attorneys. It is not me who attacked the police for doing nothing at the Sikh Temple when they in fact have responded to every complaint, even when the complaint is that one Sikh does not like the way another is looking at him. It is not me who has claimed the office is in shambles when in fact it is fully staffed and crime has dropped 20% in the three years Houck has been in office. It is not me who attacked Houck for not guilty verdicts when he has a 90% conviction rate and tried cases through COVID. It is not me who attacked Houck for getting money from an outside source when it was actually a referral fee from a recommendation he made 12 years ago, long before he was DA. It is not me who dragged homicide victim families into his mailers and debates, outraging them and adding to their grief. It is not me who has publicly disparaged homicide defendants who have yet to be tried. It is not me who abandoned an office to which he was elected five years before his term was up, forcing taxpayers to pick up the slack with senior judges.
Instead of pointing out the flaws in his mean-spirited campaign, I simply loaded two videos from the candidates themselves in an attempt to be fair.
Thankls for giving me an opportunity to weigh in with my own opinion. Much appreciated.
"I agree with Bratta on the Death Row Inmates if your giving death that inmate should be put to death with 1 year. "
That's pretty much the opposite of what Baratta said. He said he supports Shapiro's moratorium on the death penalty.
9:07,
"8:25, There is nothing in this story to indicate I support either candidate."
Not this story, but every other blog it seems you post proclaims your allegiance to Terence.
"The person who has been on a vendetta since January is Baratta. People have noticed. The fault for that lies with him, not me. It is not I who filed a complaint with the Disciplinary Board attacking the integrity of three attorneys."
If you can not comprehend the massive conflict that exists by having a landlord tenant relationship between a defense attorney and top prosecutor, that is simply startling. It is common knowledge that the Northampton County defense bar is irate with the type of access Minotti gets to the DAO in order to effectuate favorable pleas for his clients. That is solely due to his relationship with Pepper. We all know Minotti is no Perry Mason, he gets deals not because of his efficacy as a defense attorney, but because he's the Office's biggest fundraiser. That is unethical. Terry allows it.
"It is not me who attacked the police for doing nothing at the Sikh Temple when they in fact have responded to every complaint, even when the complaint is that one Sikh does not like the way another is looking at him."
The police still maintain possession of the monetary collections circulated at the religious event they were called to months ago. Why hasn't Terry returned the religious donations seized by police that day? Those donations are not evidence of any crime and should be returned to the organization immediately. When will you report on the lawsuits filed against the police and Houck by the Sikhs?
"It is not me who has claimed the office is in shambles when in fact it is fully staffed and crime has dropped 20% in the three years Houck has been in office."
Luckily we have real journalists who enjoy seeking the truth, https://www.lehighvalleynews.com/northampton-county/northampton-county-da-takes-credit-for-cutting-crime-state-crime-statistics-are-more-complicated
"It is not me who dragged homicide victim families into his mailers and debates, outraging them and adding to their grief. It is not me who has publicly disparaged homicide defendants who have yet to be tried."
Fair point, I don't agree with the overt publicization of this matter either. But, if you had the balls to seek these people out instead of just taking every word Terry spews as gospel, you would know they are just as pissed at Terry for his ineptitude.
"It is not me who abandoned an office to which he was elected five years before his term was up, forcing taxpayers to pick up the slack with senior judges."
America is still a free country, correct? The man is allowed to retire whenever he wants to.
Finally, I continue to appreciate your deafening silence on the racial discrimination the women of color filling support positions in that office have faced during Terry's tenure. Very honorable.
AGREED!!!!!!
"The police still maintain possession of the monetary collections circulated at the religious event they were called to months ago. Why hasn't Terry returned the religious donations seized by police that day? Those donations are not evidence of any crime and should be returned to the organization immediately. When will you report on the lawsuits filed against the police and Houck by the Sikhs?"
This is just another example of the outright lies coming from Baratta's campaign. You should be ashamed if yourself. As it happens, I never reported on the "lawsuits" filed against the police and the DA because the only lawsuit involved was filed in the wrong court. It was filed in criminal court with the claim that the police made an unlawful search and seizure. I just found out about this claim today, and it apparently was the result of a disagreement over the contents of the collection box. The police agreed, at the request of both parties, to hold this collection money until the dispute was resolved. Both factions agreed. The police do not want the money and the DA never had it. Under the rules of criminal procedure, a person who is aggrieved by a search and seizure can ask to have his property returned. These persons are not aggrieved. They consented. Moreover, there was no search and seizure. The police merely agreed to hold the $ at the request of both factions. As I understand it, there was actual bodycam footage that shows this is exactly what happened.
After a hearing this morning, PJ Koury bounced this "lawsuit." It was nothing more than an attempt to politicize the criminal courts, based on false allegations.
I suspect the only persons who would know about this "lawsuit" are the attorneys who filed it, so you are now at risk of losing your anonymity. You've already lost the election.
Every time you bring something up you are full of shit. Steve really needs to stop listening to your nonsense.
The truth is so interesting. I wonder if the law firm’s main office in New Jersey know what RL and friends are doing here in our County? I heard he was posting outright lies on his personal page, now this? How can anyone believe anything they or Baratta say? The post also wrote about Pepper and Minotti sharing the same space, but haven’t they shared this space for YEARS with Morganelli allowing it? This clan needs to just go away and disappear already.
1. How do we see the court docket/report/whatever so that we know who the lawyer wasting the court’s time is?
2. I am sick to death of Baratta beating the same dead horse named Pepper. My gosh, if everything is on the up-and-up as seems to be the case, stop making an issue where there is none. I think Stevie watches too many Real Housewives shows and wants to mix it up like the gals.
3. Houck may be a dumpster fire, but I would rather he be re-elected than Baratta elected. Baratta is an angry man who is getting bad advice, but appears too bullheaded to realize it.
I’d like to know if anyone has questioned the staff of the DA’s office. Because everyone I talked to seems to be fine. If anything, there are rumors that people will leave if Baratta is elected because he is difficult to work with.
Just because they play the race card, doesn't mean there's any truth to their allegations. You have any proof?
Racial discrimination against women of color is a flat out LIE! That could not be any further from the truth, I know this first hand!
Agreed!
Baratta was the most liberal judge in a courthouse filled with liberal judges.
The concept of justice was most often absent in his courtroom.
He cannot be ceded control over prosecutions and investigations.
Dear Mr. Baratta,
Since I am sure you are reading this blog and comments, I am choosing this way to contact you (your campaign doesn’t take calls…it must have been given that idea by Willie Reynolds). I have received multiple mailers and phone calls from your campaign and each and every one of them took the low road and was incredibly negative in tone. Your campaign doesn’t laud your accomplishments as judge, your job requirements when you were a prosecutor, or the affiliation you have with your former boss, John Morganelli, who you said “encouraged” you to run for judge.
Additionally, you like to bash Mr. Pepper, despite the fact that his moonlighting, though misguided, seems okay, but you have no problem with a sitting judge “encouraging” you to run for DA. You keep hammering the same points and it is really quite old. I’m bored with your antics and am glad that in a month, I will vote for Terry Houck. That vote was going to be for you, but I’m fortunate I had the opportunity through debates to see your hissy fits and ridiculous behavior.
Sincerely,
Mari
Experienced staff members of the DA Office will absolutely leave if Baratta is elected. He is an angry, volatile, erratic and vindictive man driven from his judge's spot. He continues to prove himself impossible to work with in any capacity. Ask anyone who has had to appear before him as a judge. His ability to professionally and justly run a prosecutor's office simply does not exist since,as shown by his campaign, he has no regard whatsoever for the truth about anything. He is merely a morganelli puppet.
Lol. Almost every senior and deputy district attorney are actively applying for outside positions in other prosecutorial positions because of that office. No one is speaking up for the fear that they’ll be berated by Pepper and Terry alike. For example, one assistant DA was told she was an “f’ing b” by Pepper. Another was called a “boob” by Terry in front of the entire staff. This is not a secret but no one wants to admit it.
Approximately ~12 attorneys have left the office since Terry took reign. This is a horrible retention rate; most were very experienced.
Also, the conviction rate is so high because everyone pleads guilty. Look at the cases that are being taken to trial. Conviction rate is WELL under 50%. This includes serious cases like rape and murder.
Vote Baratta. The county will be much better off.
Why not ask those people why they left? Maybe you’ll get an an$wer a$ to why they left and just maybe it has nothing to do with Mr. Houck Google “why are prosecutors leaving their jobs” and you may be surprised that this is not only a Northampton County problem, but a nationwide one.
As for the higher amount of guilty pleas, isn’t that what you want, less cases going to trial? If you have less cases going to trial, surely your conviction rate is going to suffer a bit in that you have less slam dunks going to trial.
They are definitely not leaving for more money. They are leaving because administration has treated them poorly and they are not appreciated. If someone comes forward, there will be retaliation. Terry and Pepper are not good people. If Terry gets re-elected, he will continue his poor treatment of staff and allow others to terrorize staff.
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