Matt Stanton: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: GurneeWebsite: stantonforall.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook:Matt Stanton for State's AttorneyOffice sought: Lake County State's Attorney Age: 55Family: Single father of five grown children. Occupation: Attorney, Law ProfessorEducation: BA Columbia College; JD Kent College of LawCivic involvement: Executive Board Chicago Media Watch; Executive Board Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association; Volunteer member, ParentWISE, Lurie Children's HospitalElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Has enough progress been made to prevent recurrence of past problems with wrongful convictions or investigate accusations in existing cases? If not, what would you do to accelerate progress? No real progress has been made. The need for reform is just as great today as it was in 2012. Recall that the incumbent ran as a reform candidate in the previous election. He replaced none of the 144 employees that he inherited. The State's Attorney office personnel needs to be objectively evaluated and changes made. These are public service jobs, not life-time memberships in an exclusive club. There are too many people who have operated for too long without any accountability whatsoever. In my opinion, the office is overstaffed by at least 15-20%. I plan to begin with a total overhaul of the office. All employees will be evaluated for competency and professionalism. I will begin by asking for everyone's resignation after which I will select the people I wish to retain. This is something akin to what a new head coach does when taking over a team with institutional problems.How will the placement of a medicinal-marijuana center in Lake County affect the county's prosecution of crimes involving marijuana possession? What position do you advocate for the prosecution and sentencing of people convicted on marijuana charges? Where does marijuana-possession fit in your priority for prosecuting crimes?I do not think it will draw additional crime to the area. Only people who have serious medical problem certified by a doctor will have access to medical marijuana. These citizens are acting within the law. Like most people across the country, I believe that possession of small amounts of marijuana should be treated like an ordinance violation and taxpayer resources should not be wasted in prosecution and incarceration of personal use cases. However, for the protection of society and our children people who deal drugs must be dealt with harshly.If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?I favor instituting a Deferred Prosecution program for minor cases that has shown to be successful at reducing costs and the recidivism rate in other Illinois counties similar to Lake County. This would involve cooperation between the State's Attorney's Office, Chief Judge Ortiz, and Sheriff Curran. The requirements would involve first time offenders who are employed or in school; restitution; drug and alcohol screening; and the consent of the victim.Describe your position regarding the allocation of resources in the state's attorney's office. Are personnel allocated as they should be? Are there capital expense or other budgetary items that the office must address, and, if so, how do you propose to address them?Candidate did not respond.Please list any elected office you've ever run for and what the result of that election was. Have you ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term?This is my first try for public office.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.No current leaders leave me much inspired; but I often think of Sir Winston Churchill who once said "Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others.".What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I grew up in a large family where I learned to appreciate hard work, to accept responsibility, and treat others with toleration and empathy.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?The hardest thing in life is to watch one's children suffer. I would have stayed off the road on December 23, 1985 when I and my family were involved in a car accident leaving several of my children seriously injured.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History. It is a vast repository of life lessons.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Every success in my life has been the result of rising early, working hard, and not wasting too much time in front of the TV; every failure I owe to fear.