Barbara Ann Cray (Courtesy photo)
Barbara Ann Cray, D-Westport Island, is running for district attorney for Prosecutorial District 6, which encompasses Lincoln, Knox, Sagadahoc, and Waldo counties.
She is on the Tuesday, June 9 ballot for the Democratic primary, running against incumbent Natasha Irving, D-Rockland. The winner will appear on the ballot in November.
Cray said there are many different reasons she is running for district attorney. She said she is a very experienced attorney and a good trial lawyer, which she feels would be helpful for some cases coming before the court. She said she likes the law and the justice system.
“I believe very strongly in justice being fair and equal and proportional,” Cray said. “I like being in the courtroom, and I would like to be part of that system as it relates to this particular district.”
Cray also knows how to train attorneys, which she said would be helpful because there is a lot of turnover in the district attorney’s office. She said the issue of offenders receiving deals from the district attorney’s office is complicated, because every situation is different.
“I don’t like anything where each situation is not individually considered,” she said.
She said there are situations in which negotiating a plea deal with an offender is appropriate, like victimless crimes that are first offenses, particularly by someone who is younger than 25 so they do not have a record.
Cray said she has a “community justice approach” that she would like to bring to the office of the district attorney and to the community. She said this means a collaborative approach between law enforcement, the legal system, and the community.
“I’ve seen a few things relating to drug addiction, because my son became a substance abuser at age 18,” she said.
While her son received treatment and is now successfully sober, dealing with that situation was very shocking for her.
Cray said one specific goal she would like to accomplish if elected is for the district attorney’s office to do better as it relates to domestic abuse and sexual abuse. In her opinion, there are too many instances where an abuser is allowed to go back into the community with a slap on the wrist.
“I’m not a person who says ‘No jail,’” she said. “I’m not a person who says ‘Always jail.’ But the domestic abuse is something we have to stop. And the only way we’re going to stop it is to impose punishment.”
She said this might involve working more closely with victims.
Cray said the DA’s office needs to consider poverty and addiction in the overall determination of how to charge a crime or help a victim in the community.
Polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. See the list of Lincoln County polling locations in this edition.
