PHOENIX—Today, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors appointed Allister Adel as the new Maricopa County attorney. ACLU of Arizona campaign strategist Analise Ortiz issued the following statement:
"As the new Maricopa County Attorney, Allister Adel will assume one of the most powerful positions in the criminal legal system. Unfortunately, the Board of Supervisors deliberately made the appointment process as non-transparent as possible. We are deeply interested in knowing whether Adel will commit to bringing much needed reform to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office which sends more people to prison than any other Arizona county and has a long history of corruption and scandal."
"We hope to sit down with her, and all candidates for county attorney in 2020, to talk about the urgent need to change the culture of this prosecuting office to be one that values justice, not winning convictions and harsh sentences. It is critical for voters to get educated on the county attorney race and demand a county attorney who will be transparent with the public, see it as their primary duty to safely and effectively reduce our prison population, and commit to rooting out racism within the criminal legal system."
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