SALEM — Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett “has to work.” Yet, Blodgett, a Peabody resident, is not running for re-election after serving as DA for two decades.
In an interview with the Item Tuesday morning, Blodgett said he was proud of the work he had done but decided now was the right time to step away, rather than committing to another four years as the county’s top prosecutor.
“It’s been a great run 20 years,” Blodgett said, seated in a leather chair with an assortment of framed photos behind him — including one of a tiger, the mascot of Princeton University, Blodgett’s alma mater. “There’s no one driving reason, it was just a whole amalgamation of reasons that came together, especially after talking about it with my family, my adult children.”
The race to replace Blodgett has drawn two democratic candidates — Rep. Paul Tucker, a former Salem police chief, and James O’Shea, of Middleton, an attorney. Blodgett declined to comment on the race, but said he hoped whoever succeeds him will continue to build on the work he did — particularly working with schools throughout the county to identify those most at-risk and offer support.
“I would hope that whoever succeeds me is going to say ‘boy that worked, we’re going to continue it’ but when you sit in that chair you get to make those decisions,” he said, pointing to his desk. “I would hope that an objective look would think of some of the things we’ve done, again, working hard with the schools trying to provide some leadership on issues of importance, like I mentioned earlier, teen dating violence, proper computer use, healthy choices, and smart choices is something that my successor successfully would want to do.”
“I hope, again, that some of the programs we’ve instituted would be not only kept but improved upon, become more robust,” Blodgett continued.
Blodgett said he was particularly proud of the drug diversion program his office launched in 2007 — the first of its kind in the state. The program, a partnership with Bridgewell, seeks to offer treatment to those suffering from substance use disorder in lieu of being prosecuted.
“If somebody found themselves in the beginning of a court process … it would be a situation where we would offer, if appropriate, treatment in lieu of prosecution.… We even do it pre-arraignment, we’ll offer it to you if it’s appropriate before you put a foot in the courtroom,” Blodgett said. “When we first started it, it was in two district courts and now it’s in all of our eight district courts, the three superior courts we have, and juvenile court.”
Since its inception, more than 1,000 people have participated in the program, which requires a minimum of six months of participation, Blodgett said.
Blodgett said that at times throughout his tenure he wished he had more resources at his disposal to enable his office to do more — one example, he said, is the Essex Summer Day Program, which runs for two weeks each summer in collaboration with a number of local police departments — including those in Lynn, Peabody, and Marblehead.
“There’s a lot of kids who go to these camps, who couldn’t otherwise afford to go to a camp that’s probably paid for … and the police officers volunteer their time and they love it,” he said. “At the end of each week, there’s a graduation ceremony. You should see the smiles, [on] kids’ faces and the parents who come up to me … I wish I could do that all summer long. I just don’t have the resources.”
“It’s a positive thing that has a positive effect on the community and hopefully a positive effect on kids,” Blodgett continued.
Over the course of his 20 years in office, Blodgett said, he has seen an evolution in the discussion surrounding criminal justice — and in his view, much of it is just “white noise.”
“You can’t make change based on slogans and cliches,” he said. “A lot of the criminal justice reform movement, again, I think is really missing the mark. When you take an oath of office to uphold the laws, in Massachusetts and the Constitution, you’re not taking an oath of office to uphold the laws that you like, there’s no carve out in that regard. You have discretion and you can use that discretion for certain things, but you still have to uphold the law.”
In his view, criminal justice, especially from the District Attorney’s Office, can’t include “blanket policies.”
“I just don’t believe for a second that you should have a whole series of criminal statutes that you’re not going to prosecute. That’s not your job as a DA, you’re not a legislator, you’re the district attorney,” Blodgett said.
A key facet of the job of district attorney over the past 20 years, Blodgett said, has been determining the difference between a criminal and someone who violated a criminal statute — a fine line with no clear answer.
To make that determination, he said, involves examining the person’s background and considering what their prior criminal history is.
“You’d have to look at every single thing individually … you trust your staff to look at what brought that person and then if it’s a jump ball, we’re not sure, we collaborate here, what should we do … and try to make a determination,” he said. They’re “not always easy calls. But I mean, I’m always willing to give someone a break as long as I believe it’s not going to hurt the public at large.”
Carrie Kimball, Blodgett’s director of communications, said it has been particularly challenging for the DA’s office to see the ongoing push for criminal justice reform include a movement to eradicate sentencing first degree murderers to life without parole.
“One of the things that’s been difficult for us is the seeming erosion of victims’ rights in regards to the life without parole issue,” Kimball said. “Having to inform victims’ families that the person who committed the most heinous crime there is, first degree murder, and took away their loved one from them is now parole eligible and to see what that did to those families … that’s the most frustrated I’ve seen him in my 20 years working for him.”
That belief is tied into Blodgett’s idea of the role — as the only advocate for a victim in the courtroom, which he said is often one of the most rewarding aspects of the job.
“The district attorney is the only voice in the courtroom for victims of crime and we stand by and speak for victims and we’re the only entity that does that,” Blodgett said. “I can’t tell you how gratifying it is when you have a parent come up to you and with tears in their eyes and give you a hug or shake your hand say ‘thank you so much, how could we have done this [without you]?’”
With a new district attorney set to be sworn in in January, Blodgett has less than six months left in his tenure — he said he will miss those he has worked with closely over the years when he leaves.
“The most important thing for me is the people I work with. Great people, just really, they never get the credit they deserve or the recognition, but they don’t do stuff here for credit and recognition, they do it because they’re generally really good people,” he said. “I just love everybody I work with; they’re just great people. I’m going to miss them terribly.”
Blodgett said being the district attorney is “an intense job,” noting that he spent his entire tenure in office sleeping with his cell phone next to his pillow. As he prepares to step away, he said the only job he is sure of taking on next is that of grandfather.
“The only job I have right now that is coming up that I’m sure of is that I have four very active grandchildren 12, 9, 6, and 3, and they have need for reliable transportation services to and from wherever they’re going,” he said. “I know all the songs they like, I know their favorite snacks. So I will be busy doing that in addition to whatever other job I end up doing, so I’m gonna enjoy them.”
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
