Peterson hoping to bring experience and focus to attorney general's office

Doug Peterson believes that in order to be a successful attorney general one must divorce themselves from political aspirations and focus wholeheartedly on the tasks at hand.

Peterson, who was born in Columbus and raised in Lincoln, has served as an attorney for over 28 years during which time he has served as Deputy County Attorney in North Platte and served as Assistant Attorney General under Attorney General Bob Spire.

It is because of his years in the courtroom and serving the people of Nebraska that Peterson has decided to throw his hat in the ring to be the next attorney general, also citing frustrations with the current state of how the model of being a public servant and that role has been represented in recent years.

"I was frustrated a little bit with what I see on the national/state level as far as the model of a public servant. My model of a public servant would be someone who has developed a skill set in the private sector, and then because of their love for their community whether it's , you know, school board, city council or attorney general, if you believe you have a skill set that can help make it better then it's public servant model that you step forward and you serve," Peterson said.

Peterson's frustrations lie in the seeming thought by other candidates of the job as merely a stepping stone to other political offices and a chance to expand upon their political career.

"One of my opponents said this is his dream job. Well, when it comes to being a public servant dream job, I get a little concerned, because if you bring that personal ambition into there and, you know what type of model I'm talking about, where it's kind of this career politician, they get their self-worth out of that whole maybe status or whatever. It becomes concerning because then you see that they'll compromise or in some ways make their decision-making process based more off of a self-preservation motive than actually what is best," Peterson said.

It is due to this trend and what he witnessed during his time under Spire that Peterson has pledged that, if elected, he will not seek any other political office or let his focus drift away to other ambitions outside of the scope of his work as the attorney general.

"When I worked for Bob Spire, he was pretty focused on being the attorney general. He didn't have political ambitions. I think the last 24 years has been a little too much of political ambition over just focusing on the job. Anyway, I say that and I've made a pledge that, if I were elected attorney general, I wouldn't seek any other political office while serving as attorney general. That's where that comes from," Peterson said.

One of Peterson's main concerns currently when pondering the possible actions that would need to be taken once in office is how to deal with the marijuana legalization in Colorado and its seemingly detrimental effects on the surrounding states including Nebraska where it has been sneaked across the border affecting towns on both the east and west sides of the state.

"I spoke with someone two days ago about the problem now rising in York. It's moving. It's moving quickly to the east. Colorado is deriving I think I saw one report of $50 million a year in tax revenue. They've taken a product that was formerly recognized by surrounding states as an illegal narcotic, and what they've done is they've turned it into a marketable commodity, which has increased the strength, the packaging, marketing I mean candy bars, lollipops. They've made this into a full-blown commodity for revenue purposes both for the producer but for the state also," Peterson said.

However, as Peterson points out, this is coming at the detriment of the surrounding states who have had to deal with increases in the trafficking of marijuana and struggling to stop it from coming through their borders. What Peterson would propose is to gather the attorney generals from the surrounding states and try to deal with the problem at its source.

"This was really going on, frankly, before when it was being used for medicinal purposes. It was coming across, but now even more. The gates open wider. And I say, what are the costs that we're bearing from all the county information that we can acquire, take that quantified material, the cost and go to the attorney general of Colorado and the governor and say, alright, here is the consequence that we're bearing as a result of your decision. We need to know what you're going to do to enforce, because they have an enforcement provision in their Colorado statute which apparently they're choosing not to really do around the borders, and just simply ask what are you going to do, because we're bearing the cost and you're deriving all the benefit," Peterson said.

Along with protecting the state's borders, Peterson would also like to focus on key issues inside of the state, including prison reform and changing the current good time law, in order to protect the people and institutions already within the state.

"I think right now the Nebraska Department of Corrections is probably under the most scrutiny and reflection that they've ever been in for a variety of reasons. The Nikko Jenkins case really highlighted a time to reevaluate this whole issue of good time. And I think we, as Nebraskans, were all kind of shocked at how we defined good time in a Nebraska prison. I think that's being completely reevaluated and certainly good times plays a part in our correction overcrowding system. That's how it's factored in. But let's not be stupid about it. Let's make good time actually stand for good time," Peterson said.

Under the current good time law, inmates are essentially given one day of good time off of their sentences for every day spent incarcerated, leading even the most violent of offenders to be able to "earn" an earlier release.

Peterson believes that the system as it is has been based on a misguided mentality of warehousing inmates, which keeps them out of society, but then doesn't offer the correct rehabilitation and other programs needed in order to ensure that, when released, inmates are given skills in order to effectively live as a model citizen among the general public.

"I think it needs to be much more intentional, much more well designed, and I think we all just set some general principles that apply. I think we all understand with violent criminals, particularly those violent criminals who've got a history of violent acts. I think those are the people we have to be pretty stern with in serving time and not applying this loose, arbitrary good time standard. That's got to change," Peterson said.

Peterson also thinks that there should be a differentiation between violent and non-violent offenders, especially when considering whether or not incarceration is necessary or whether a rehab program would better serve the case.

"I think on the other end of the spectrum where you're looking at drug offenders and some others that are pretty clearly non-violent crimes with a limited history then I think you do really need to say what are some other rehab things that we can do that would be effective so that we wouldn't be crowding our prisons with people who aren't really that big of a threat," Peterson said.

Peterson is also a pro-life advocate. He believes that it is simply not justifiable to arbitrarily decide at which point that a fetus or unborn child should be protected under the law.

"I just think, to me, you can't arbitrarily, as our Supreme Court has done, try to take a fetus from conception and then try to arbitrarily say where do we define protection. The sustainability argument never made any sense to me, because you could go into any hospital right now and say is there life being sustained by a certain medication or a certain device right now? Because there's all kinds of people that are not viable on their own right now. There are people that need dialysis machines and things like that," Peterson said.

Peterson also believes that the ruling of Roe v. Wade, which he refers to as "one of the most poorly thought out decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court", has had detrimental effects on the country stating that the decision was "outcome-based" and "makes no sense".

"Now, unfortunately, in this country, the effects of Roe v. Wade. as attorney general, I have to comply with the laws in spite of what Eric Holder says. I have to comply with the laws, but I will certainly defend the laws we have on parental notification and all the other abortion-related laws that we have and the restrictions of abortion like parental notice, the ultrasound option and things of that nature," Peterson said.

However, at the heart of the issues faced by the attorney general's office is a need and a responsibility to ensure that law enforcement agencies are strengthened and given support and that they're a presence that is well maintained throughout the state.

"What I see, the number one goal of the attorney general's office is maintaining, as the chief law enforcement officer, maintaining that strong law enforcement presence that really only the attorney general can do. You just can't expect a county attorney or others to coordinate the efforts when you know, for example, the meth distribution is not located or limited to one single county. It's a country-wide, statewide problem, and it has real damning effects on our communities. And so that has to be lead out by the attorney general, and that's why I don't think the position is real suitable to someone who's inexperienced or politically ambitious," Peterson said.

Peterson was also recently endorsed by the State Troopers Association of Nebraska, something which he believes strengthens his chances of being able to hit the ground running from day one if elected.

"That means something to me, because when I was in the county attorney's office and attorney general's office, they were the key law enforcement agency that we had to work with. So I do feel that their support is important, and I feel that if I were elected, stepped in the office, we'd be ready to move pretty quickly," Peterson said.

What Peterson believes truly sets him apart from his opponents is his experience in the field, citing frustrations with the claims of his opponents and their seeming misrepresentation of their qualifications.

"The two of the candidates talking about former prosecutor experience, one was with the city attorney and that's a little bit different than the county attorney as far as the magnitude of cases they deal with," Peterson said. "The other one, his law firm, whenever they hire an associate and this is common in bigger cities, bigger law firms, they'll have their new associates work a 60 to 90 day internship at the county prosecutor's office. Well, it seems to me a little disingenuous to say that 90 day experience allows you to go on tv and do an ad and call yourself a prosecutor, but it happens."

Peterson also refuses to repeat the same talking points that he hears his opponents repeat over and over again.

"I can't measure the motives of my opponents. I don't know them well enough. I can tell you I get a little bit bothered because I've travelled around and spoken with eight different county attorneys about what they're dealing with and not once have they said Obamacare and the Affordable Care Act. I get troubled by those guys kind of playing that game now. There's no one who dislikes or thinks it's just a disaster about Obamacare than me but I don't see that as something that the attorney general's going to address from day one so I'm not going to play that political card," Peterson said.

If elected, Peterson promises to focus on the issues Nebraskans face and fight to maintain the value of life that the state offers and the quality of life that its residents have come to expect and appreciate.

"I think, as your attorney general that you're being more citizen-focused than politically focused. In some ways, that may hurt me, because some may say he doesn't have a history here or something like that. The other candidates, what sets me apart, is that they're younger. They've sought political office before, and I think I bring more of what I would like to call 'classic Nebraska' which is keep your head down, you work hard and it's not about you. I know that's a big generalization. It really is, but when you look outside the state or just travel outside the state, I think our values are a little bit different here and they have to be maintained," Peterson said.