Indiana county prosecutor seeks re-election by bragging about “proudly over-crowding our prisons”

As reported in this Reason blog posting, a local prosecutor in Indiana is pursuing reelection by bragging about being proud to overcrowd the state’s prisons. The full headline of the posting, along with the picture, provides the essentials of this notable story: “Indiana Prosecutor Bradley Cooper Is ‘Proudly Over-Crowding our Prisons’: Cooper’s new campaign flyer brags about the people he’s put in prison for decades over drug sales and minor theft.” Here is more from the blog post about this local prosecutor and his record:

As American conservatives and liberals alike embrace criminal justice reform, those opposed are blatantly bragging about their overcriminalization agendas. One particularly gross example: a new campaign mailer from Johnson County, Indiana, Prosecutor Bradley D. Cooper, which announces that he has been busy “proudly over-crowding our prisons.”

The flyer also features mugshots from convicted criminals, along with what they were found guilty of and what prison sentence they were given. It includes a man who was sentenced to 40 years in prison for selling meth, a man convicted of manslaughter who died while in prison, and a man who received a 40-year sentence for burglary.

In the latter case, William A. Russell was arrested after breaking into someone’s home and stealing $52. For that offense, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. A trial court also determined that he was a “habitual offender,” which qualified him for a sentencing enhancement of 20 years.

Another of the offenders featured is Amanda Smith, a schizophrenic woman who drowned her son in 2012 while he was on a court-ordered overnight visit from foster care; she claimed it was God’s will and turned herself in immediately afterward. Smith’s lawyers argued for her to be sent to a state mental hospital, but a judge sentenced her to 55 years in state prison instead.

Last year, Cooper made a fuss that a man accused of forcible rape was only eligible to receive 63 years behind bars, pursuant to a 2014 change to Indiana’s criminal code. Previously, the man could have received a maximum sentence of 168 years in prison. Cooper called the sentencing-reform measure the “hug a thug” law and accused the state of coddling violent criminals.

For more about this local prosecutor professional history and accomplishments, his office’s website includes this bio and this resume for Bradley D. Cooper. Interestingly, I believe that Prosecutor Bradley attended the same law school as frequent blog commentor federalist, and thus I would be especially eager to hear from federalist (or others) whether they think this kind of campaign slogan is unsavory or perhaps even unethical.