by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Sheriff John Rutherford encouraged members of the Meninak Club last week to give State Attorney Angela Corey “a big hug and a kiss” the next time they saw her for the job she’s done just more than six months into the role.
They had the chance Monday when Corey visited the civic organization for its weekly luncheon. While the hugs and kisses were few and far between, the adoration and applause weren’t lacking during Corey’s meeting with the group of more than 75 members.
Corey touched on some of the different feats she’s accomplished in her time as state attorney, including consolidating the different departments under one roof and an increased prosecution rate. While staff might have been cut, lawyers were not, and the mission remains the same.
“We are accountable to you,” she said. “We fight for the community as well as the victims (of crime).”
The work of the state attorney’s office, she said, is a delicate balance with many of the lawyers’ actions having “life and death or a severe financial impact” on those in the system.
The decrease in the city’s murder rate from prior years, she said, was a mixture of several elements. There’s a synergy between the office and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and lengthened incarceration of repeat offenders, she said. But the long-term intervention efforts — from programs and communities alike — shouldn’t be overlooked.
“What you do really is intervention,” she said, regarding Meninak’s mentoring programs. “It takes a community effort.”
Corey said she’s personally looked through the files for crimes committed with guns to see if they fall under Florida’s “10-20-life” law, which sets minimum mandatory sentences for felonies committed with firearms. It’s been a time consuming, but needed, task, she said.
“People tell me it’s such a harsh law,” she said, “and I tell them ‘We know. That’s why we need it.’”
Corey said her office prosecutes the gun law evenhandedly without regard to race, sex and age. Corey cited examples such as middle aged women in road rage flare ups to shotgun-toting young women in domestic disputes. Both types of crime have contributed to the increase in violent crime committed by young women.
Also increasing is the amount of white collar crime — embezzlement, fraud, identity theft — that has coincided with the downturn in the economy. Corey said she’s seen numerous crimes against nonprofit organizations and other small businesses and has been disgusted by some of the cases.
“These are very deliberate crimes,” said Corey, “and we’re going after these like we would any other crime committed.”
Corey’s presentation and open question-and-answer session with the group was educational to its newest member, Inyam Owete, who agreed with her community focus on tackling crime problems.
“I thought she had some great things to tell us,” said Owete, who officially joined the group Monday, returning after becoming the organization’s scholarship recipient in 2000. “It really is going to take a community effort to find ways to help.”
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