Posted by
Team Raj on Sunday, July 16, 2006 6:32:10 PM
From the Northeast Times:
Raj Bhakta, the Republican candidate in the 13th Congressional District, is calling for more prisons and stricter sentences as ways to combat violent crimes.
Bhakta credits the police department for making arrests but blames lenient judges and prison overcrowding for crimes committed by violent offenders. He wonders why "Mayor Street and his cronies" don’t address the matter.
The candidate cited the case of Solomon Montgomery, whom Common Pleas Court Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes found not guilty of a shooting in 2001. Montgomery is now charged with killing 15th Police District community relations officer Gary Skerski in May.
Bhakta, who is challenging freshman Democratic Rep. Allyson Schwartz, said crime is causing a plummeting quality of life in the Northeast. He’s preparing "Save the Northeast" rallies.
The Republican said Pennsylvania is a big state with lots of room for prisons. "Find a field somewhere in Pennsylvania, build a prison and fill it with criminals, and when that gets filled, find another field," he said. "We cannot allow criminals to run our streets any longer, and in Congress I will chase down the funding for it."