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| Affiliation | Republican |
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1991-01-01 |
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| Name | Ernie D. Preate Jr. |
| Address | 550 Clay Ave.
Scranton, Pennsylvania , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
November 22, 1940
(83 years)
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| Contributor | Not in Public Domain |
| Last Modifed | Mr. Matt
Jan 18, 2012 02:31pm |
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| Info | Ernest D. Preate, Jr.
He was the D.A. of Lackawanna County, and later became Pennsylvania's Attorney General. According to political pundits, Preate was a serious contender for the next governor of Pennsylvania, until disaster struck in the form of a mail fraud indictment. The meteoric political career came crashing down to earth, and Preate became an exemplar of that rare breed of high-ranking political official, who falls from great heights to the lowest place in American status: prison. As an ex-prosecutor, Preate had every reason to fear and dread prison, even if it was of the relatively milder federal variety. To his astonishment the former fire-breathing procurator found, not demons, but people, in prison. He saw the faces of the poor, the impoverished, the disestablished and the illiterate. He found a new side of himself.
When he emerged from prison he began to sing a new song. He spoke loudly and often about prison rehabilitation, the need for restoration over retribution, and was openly critical of some features of the state's correctional regime. Predictably, he made powerful enemies and the Pennsylvania DOC did not take long in its counter attack. In March, 2000, the DOC put out a memo, banning the former Attorney General from state prisons for a year, and also ordering an end to inmate contributions to the Lobbyist Coalition Fund, because Preate (the lobbyist) was "an ex-offender." The DOC couched the memo in words that made it seem as if they were doing it to protect prisoners from the "bad ex-offender lobbyist" (Preate).
In fact, given Preate's expertise in public and governmental affairs, and his personal knowledge of legislative and political officials, it appears he was actually perceived as a real threat to the DOC, for its tens of thousands of captives never had anyone actively lobbying in their favor. Like a prisoner given a false charge, Ernie Preate was "written up" to serve institutional, not prisoner, interests.
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