Speaker 1: Debate, go through debate, sac services in a world of
Speaker 1: hurt right now Arkansas, New York City Mayor Eric Annadal
Speaker 1: fight every day happen fifty five KRS talk station Ato
Speaker 1: five here a fifty five KRC de talk station and
Speaker 1: very happy Friday Eve to you, Jay Ratliff at the
Speaker 1: bottom of the air. In the meantime, I'm always pleased
Speaker 1: to talk to Hamilton County Prosecutor. Let's keep her in
Speaker 1: that job. Melissa Powers. Welcome back to the fifty five
Speaker 1: KRC Morning Show. Melissa Powers. It's always a pleasure speaking
Speaker 1: with you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Brian. It's a pleasure to be here this morning.
Speaker 1: Well, and I will strongly encourage people to engage in
Speaker 1: the exercise that I recently engaged. In your website, POWERSFO
Speaker 1: Prosecutor dot com and there's a link that says meet Melissa,
Speaker 1: and it breaks down your background, your career, which is
Speaker 1: a long career in criminal justice. You started out in
Speaker 1: the prosecutor's office, you went in private practice. You're a judge,
Speaker 1: of course that's important. You're Hamilton County Prosecutor. And I'm
Speaker 1: always scratching the surface on this, but you have so
Speaker 1: much experience in this role and a demonstrably successful record
Speaker 1: in your role as Hamilton County Prosecutor. So we normally
Speaker 1: focus on you, your accomplishments and your record. Let us
Speaker 1: pivot over and look at what Connie Pileach is and
Speaker 1: what she certainly is not which is qualified for the job.
Speaker 1: Go to Connie Pillage dot com, look at meet Connie
Speaker 1: Pillach and find me something in her background that qualifies
Speaker 1: her to be Hamilton County Prosecutor. Let us begin with
Speaker 1: the fact that she's never prosecuted a single case in
Speaker 1: her life.
Speaker 2: Melissa, You're absolutely right, Brian. Qualifications do matter in this
Speaker 2: job is just so important. It impacts every person in
Speaker 2: Hamilton County, every neighborhood, and you just cannot take a
Speaker 2: chance on somebody that's never prosecuted a case, never prosecuted
Speaker 2: or even handled, a murder case, a case in juvenile court,
Speaker 2: an abuse neglect or dependent child case. These are all
Speaker 2: cases that my office handles, that I have experienced in
Speaker 2: over thirty two years in handling these types of cases,
Speaker 2: and we have to make sure that we get it
Speaker 2: right this November.
Speaker 1: For election well, and something that might not mean a
Speaker 1: whole lot to someone who's never practiced law. Let us
Speaker 1: use me as an example. This is my eighteenth year
Speaker 1: in radio. I haven't set foot in the courtroom. I
Speaker 1: was a litigation attorney on the civil side, but haven't
Speaker 1: set foot in the courtroom for the last eighteen years.
Speaker 1: She hasn't been in a courtroom in nearly twenty years now.
Speaker 1: I will be the first person to admit on the
Speaker 1: civil litigation side, I've forgotten more than I think I
Speaker 1: knew about the rules of civil procedure. To start practicing
Speaker 1: law after so much time would be a bit of
Speaker 1: an uphill challenge, I'll admit it. I'm not planning on
Speaker 1: doing it, but you do tend to lose touch with
Speaker 1: what the law is now versus what it was the
Speaker 1: last time you were in a courtroom under in any capacity.
Speaker 1: In twenty years is a long time. I imagine criminal
Speaker 1: law as well as the rules of criminal procedure have
Speaker 1: changed a little bit in that period of time.
Speaker 2: Melissa Powers, You're absolutely right, Brian. She has not been
Speaker 2: inside of a courtroom handling a criminal case in over
Speaker 2: twenty years, and so much has changed. If you think
Speaker 2: back in your own personal life, just look at yourself
Speaker 2: one that we're using, how different, the types of bones
Speaker 2: in twenty years, the technology that most of our cases
Speaker 2: now have come with, gigabytes of technology software, the GPS
Speaker 2: downloading body camor and cameras. I mean, it is just
Speaker 2: an immense amount of information that's just on the evidence side.
Speaker 2: But then you look at all the rule changes and
Speaker 2: the case law changes. She's not up to date on
Speaker 2: any of this. She has not been practicing. She's not current.
Speaker 2: And when you try a murder case, you's got one
Speaker 2: shot at handling it properly. And if you make the mistake,
Speaker 2: the responsibility as a prosecutor, you're letting that person who
Speaker 2: when there is overwhelming guilt, to go free because you
Speaker 2: made a mistake. And we just can't afford to had
Speaker 2: that happen here. And if you think also, if you
Speaker 2: had to and to relate this to another area, if
Speaker 2: you need an open heart surgery, would you go to
Speaker 2: a surgeon that hasn't performed a surgeery in over twenty years?
Speaker 2: I mean, can you imagine? No? I mean, that's what
Speaker 2: we're dealing with here. The stakes are so high and
Speaker 2: the voters and your listeners, we need to get it right. Well.
Speaker 1: In the final explanation point, on her lack of qualification.
Speaker 1: She has never supervisor run in office of any size
Speaker 1: during her entire career.
Speaker 2: You're absolutely right, and this is this is like a
Speaker 2: large law firm that I'm managing, and I've been doing
Speaker 2: it successfully for the past twenty months since I became
Speaker 2: the prosecutor. And then when I was in juvenile quart
Speaker 2: I was the administrative judge. We had three hundred employees
Speaker 2: and a multimillion dollar budget that I had to balance
Speaker 2: at the same time. So I have a proven track record.
Speaker 2: I am am so qualified for this job. There has
Speaker 2: never been a prosecutor with my qualifications where they have
Speaker 2: experience and from every aspect from defense work, civil work,
Speaker 2: criminal law, and then also being a judge.
Speaker 1: Well, let's pivot over to her position on justice generally speaking,
Speaker 1: because my understanding is that in her record reflects that
Speaker 1: she has cited on the with the criminals and against
Speaker 1: the victims of crime, so for example, voting against funding
Speaker 1: for programs that would support victims of sexual abuse.
Speaker 2: She was a state rep for a number of years.
Speaker 2: I think it was six years. I'm not sure they
Speaker 2: have for a period of time, and this is what
Speaker 2: she's voting for, and she has shown who she is
Speaker 2: that she repeatedly sides with criminals and against victims of crime.
Speaker 2: In my job, in my career, I've been fighting for
Speaker 2: the voice of victims throughout my entire career and this
Speaker 2: job again more than ever. You are the voice for victims.
Speaker 2: You're bringing accountability, you're bringing justice. You want victims of crime,
Speaker 2: don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat. They
Speaker 2: want resolution and what we have here, and especially on
Speaker 2: victims of sexual abuse. I mean, these are the ones
Speaker 2: that need the most attention, these types of cases, because
Speaker 2: this is the one this type of perpetrator out in
Speaker 2: the community causes the greatest harm along with other violent criminals.
Speaker 1: Well, is it also not true or is it true
Speaker 1: that as state representative, Connie Pillage voted against legislation that
Speaker 1: would have increased penalties for sex traffickers. That's become a
Speaker 1: real plague on our society. With the southern border open,
Speaker 1: we found these organized networks of sex traffickers and they're
Speaker 1: quite often exploiting children, which just brings bile up to
Speaker 1: the back of my throat.
Speaker 2: You're absolutely right, and she has voted against legislation that
Speaker 2: would have increased the penalties for sex traffickers and these
Speaker 2: you can't get a high enough penalty or strong enough
Speaker 2: penalty in my opinion. And anybody that exploits children, women,
Speaker 2: that hurts people, that is constantly as a predator in
Speaker 2: our community, and we want those people off the streets
Speaker 2: and behind bars for as long as possible.
Speaker 1: Well, And was she against school resource officers and as
Speaker 1: police officers that you try to, you know, create better
Speaker 1: relationships between schools and the police department as well as
Speaker 1: you know, are there on site in the event something
Speaker 1: crazy goes down like an active shooter.
Speaker 2: You're absolutely right. And she was a state rep. She
Speaker 2: voted against legislation that would have allowed more officers to
Speaker 2: be in schools as resource officers to protect our children
Speaker 2: against mass shootings. But you know, you have to think
Speaker 2: that's pretty much a radical view of the progressive is
Speaker 2: that they don't want to militarize schools, but we do
Speaker 2: want our schools and our children to be protected. We
Speaker 2: do want to make these hard targets so that it
Speaker 2: is in the event and to prevent these types the tragedies.
Speaker 1: Well, and just the whole idea that I just find
Speaker 1: offense with that narrative militarizing schools. No, actually, that should
Speaker 1: be a sign that gives you comfort. A student who
Speaker 1: is concerned shouldn't look at a police officer and have
Speaker 1: this built in reaction and oh my god, that's a
Speaker 1: terrible person. That's the kind of propaganda and brainwashing the
Speaker 1: left instills in our children to make them have that reaction, when,
Speaker 1: of course, a child's better reaction will be, thank god,
Speaker 1: there's a police officer close by. I don't have to
Speaker 1: worry about a bad guy showing up and killing me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely right. I mean that's the way they view
Speaker 2: police officers, law enforcement. And it just shows her transparency.
Speaker 2: I think her positions that she's taken as a state
Speaker 2: rep and how she plans to run the office. I
Speaker 2: just want to make sure that our voters understand you
Speaker 2: have a clear choice here this November. We want to
Speaker 2: make sure that we are doing everything possible to keep
Speaker 2: every person, every neighborhood say no one should fear walking
Speaker 2: down the street, going to a mall, a grocery store,
Speaker 2: sporting event. I mean, we're having so much trouble with
Speaker 2: guns where people are bringing guns to these places and
Speaker 2: hurting and shooting other people. We want to make sure
Speaker 2: that we are voting for safety. And I think I'm
Speaker 2: the best qualified and the most qualified. I am the
Speaker 2: only choice that every citizen in every voter in the
Speaker 2: county should be making. This is not about politics. This vote,
Speaker 2: This vote is about your safety, your family safety. It
Speaker 2: should not matter if I'm a republic if you're a Republican,
Speaker 2: a Democrat, or an independent, you should be voting for
Speaker 2: safety and for the future of our county. We know
Speaker 2: what happens around the country when we see somebody that's
Speaker 2: unqualified in the position of a prosecutor or somebody that
Speaker 2: has a soft on crime view, and we see that
Speaker 2: she has both. She's not qualified. She didn't even maintain
Speaker 2: her law license. She said such a little interest and
Speaker 2: being a lawyer that she didn't even maintain her law license.
Speaker 2: Had to re enact it when she was co chair
Speaker 2: of the Democratic Party and decided that since they couldn't
Speaker 2: find anyone to run against me, she would throw her
Speaker 2: hat in the ring on this race. This is not
Speaker 2: a position that she's looking that she wants to do.
Speaker 2: I have a passion. I have served our community in
Speaker 2: this capacity. I have a passion. He a lot for
Speaker 2: our county, and I want to make sure that the
Speaker 2: future of our county is not just next week, it's
Speaker 2: for future generations to come.
Speaker 1: It's whether you're tough on crime or not. Most of
Speaker 1: the powers tough on crime. Countie Pillage, big question mark
Speaker 1: and a suggestion that she's not. I put you to
Speaker 1: the test. Connie Pillage dot com versus Powers for Prosecutor
Speaker 1: dot com. Go ahead and meet both of them. You
Speaker 1: compare the records. I don't think anyone could possibly come
Speaker 1: away unless they were so politically biased for Democrats versus Republicans,
Speaker 1: which has nothing to do with this race. Really, so
Speaker 1: everything about crime, But go ahead and compare the records.
Speaker 1: You will also conclude Melissa Powers needs to stay in
Speaker 1: the job, So Powers for Prosecutor versus Connie Pillage dot com.
Speaker 1: Check it out for yourself and make an informed decision.
Speaker 1: Hamild County Prosecute and Melissa Powers, thank you for protecting
Speaker 1: and serving our community in such a great capacity. We
Speaker 1: will hopefully keep you in that capacity and vote early
Speaker 1: for you as we fast approach November.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Brian. It's a private prep pleasure and a
Speaker 2: privilege to be here this morning to speak to everyone
Speaker 2: thank you.
Speaker 1: It is mine as well to have you on eight
Speaker 1: sixteen at fifty five kr S detalk station Jay Ratliffe
Speaker 1: coming up at the bottom of the hour. We'll have
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Speaker 1: I'll be right back after the break. Fifty five KRC
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