• Home
  • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
  • Contact

JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« The four of us met and laughed and lived it up, briefly — and then spun off into separate lives
Get Back! Oh, my. What a song and what a documentary. »

Jean Peters Baker wins again, but it likely won’t help her statewide, where a “T” is mandatory on one’s letter jacket

November 23, 2021 by jimmycsays

Jackson county Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker notched her second huge win in a week today when a retired appeals court judge granted a motion to exonerate Kevin Strickland in a 1978 triple murder and ordered his immediate release.

Strickland, 62, was sentenced to prison in June 1979 for a murder he did not commit. He has spent more than 42 years behind bars.

Every bit as significant as Strickland’s exoneration was Baker’s successful prosecution of Kansas City Police Detective Eric DeValkenaere, whom a Jackson County Circuit Court judge last week found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the Dec. 3, 2019, killing of Cameron Lamb as he was backing into the garage at his residence at 4154 College Ave.

Jean Peters Baker

Baker is fearless in her pursuit of criminals of all stripes, including cops. In 2019, she went up against the other most powerful political organization in town, Local 42 of the International Association of Fire, on a union contract matter. (Jackson County’s assistant prosecutors are one of a dozen bargaining units that Local 42 represents.)

It would be so easy for Baker to take a go-along/get-along stance with the police department, which she has to work with on all criminal cases. It’s obvious, though, that Baker follows her gut and her conscience. You would think that would be good for her politically — and it is in Democratic Jackson County — but it’s probably not going to help her if she ever goes for a statewide office, such as attorney general.

That’s because the Democratic Party has essentially become irrelevant at the statewide level, with Donald Trump’s perverted brand of Republicanism having won the hearts and minds of outstate Missourians, who hold a distinct advantage, numerically, over the residents of Kansas City and St. Louis.

Eric Schmitt

It is maddening that a huckster and Trump devotee like Eric Schmitt holds the office of attorney general and that he probably will be a serious contender for the Republican nomination to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt.

Think comparatively about Baker and Schmitt. Where Baker is trying to hold all criminals accountable to the law, Schmitt is sniffing for headlines and looking to burnish his Trump-populist credentials.

Laughingly, but sadly, he fought Baker on Strickland’s exoneration. If Schmitt had gotten his way, Strickland would have spent the rest of his life in prison.

Then there is his record of cases filed. In April, The Kansas City Star ran an editorial that catalogued Schmitt’s most jaw-dropping forays. The editorial began like this…

“Almost a year ago, Schmitt sued China. He has sued Facebook and Google, too. Last week, he filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration’s immigration policies. He’s suing over state tax cuts. Schmitt has sued over the XL Pipeline. He’s in court over federal oil and gas leases. He wants federal environmental regulations reduced by court order. And, of course, he was part of the lawsuit against Pennsylvania, trying to erase the presidential votes of about 7 million people who live there…Have any of these lawsuits succeeded? Nah.”

At least one of Schmitt’s opponents for the Republican senatorial nomination is not buffaloed by the attorney general’s antics. When he announced his own candidacy last week, Missouri Senate President Pro Tem David Schatz, a Franklin County Republican, said “too many politicians are fakes and frauds.”

David Schatz

I couldn’t help but think Schatz was referring to Schmitt, and I hope Schatz will get bolder in the coming months and call out Schmitt by name as nothing more than a publicity hound.

…What a shame: Schmitt running for U.S. Senate and Jean Peters Baker effectively limited to running in urban areas. Courage and conviction are no longer the traits that resonate with a majority of Missouri voters; it’s cronyism that counts.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

5 Responses

  1. on November 23, 2021 at 8:55 pm John Altevogt

    Given the choice between a competent DA and my choice of AG, I’ll take the DA every time. You ought to be happier than a pig in poop that she’s stuck in KC..

    Over here in KCK Mark Dupree is an absolute buffoon and a danger to the community. Recently he lost an armed robbery case where they even had video of the guy using the gun to hold the joint up. He’s bungled murder cases and it’s so common for him to plead ag robbery and felon with a gun down to level 9 felonies and then release them on probation that the judges are twiddling their thumbs with little to nothing to do. In the meantime, the streets are being flooded with violent criminals while witnesses disappear because they know the thugs will be back out to seek revenge. The only upside is that we get far fewer calls for jury duty now..

    According to Alonzo Washington a couple of Dupree’s relatives have even been implicated in the murder of a teenage girl and yet nothing is done because, well, they’re Dupree’s relatives. Worse yet, Tyrone Garner is one of his supporters, and just appointed Dupree’s wife to head up his transition team. If only he would run for AG.


  2. on November 24, 2021 at 8:40 am Vern Barnet

    All of those Schmitt lawsuits cited are ridiculous and reveal Schmitt’s buffoonery. But what really gets me is the immorality, the evil, the corruption, the villainous absence of caring about another human being, his vicious disregard for fairness, in his attempts to keep Strickland in prison.


    • on November 24, 2021 at 8:42 am jimmycsays

      Well expressed, Vern. As usual, you have your thumb on the moral pulse.


      • on November 24, 2021 at 10:31 pm gayle

        Jimmy, you’re not supposed to take pulse with your thumb — fingers only! :-)

        Happy Thanksgiving Day!


  3. on November 25, 2021 at 8:29 am Thomas R. Shrout Jr.

    Who was prosecutor when Strickland was convicted?

    I new Eric Schmidt and thought he was a conservative good Goverment type who wanted to get things done. That was his reputation when he served in the legislature. My how he has changed.



Comments are closed.

  • Pages

    • About me: Jim Fitzpatrick
    • Contact
  • Archives

    • February 2023
    • January 2023
    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • October 2022
    • September 2022
    • August 2022
    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010
    • November 2010
    • October 2010
    • September 2010
    • August 2010
    • July 2010
    • June 2010
    • May 2010
    • April 2010
    • March 2010
  • Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 563 other subscribers

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Join 563 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: