TERM:	Four years.
SALARY:	$141,565
DUTIES	The attorney general, as Pennsylvania’s chief legal and law-enforcement officer, represents the commonwealth in legal actions brought against it, furnishes legal advice to the governor or any state agency, and prosecutes organized crime and public corruption. The department’s law-enforcement program includes criminal investigations, drug law enforcement, direction of statewide and multicounty investigative grand juries, and a Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. Other duties include review of all proposed rules and regulations of state agencies and administration of provisions relating to consumer protection. Under the state Constitution, the attorney general must be a member of the bar in Pennsylvania.

We asked candidates for attorney general: What specific priorities do you have if elected to the office of attorney general?

John M. Morganelli

Bethlehem

Age: 52

Occupation: District Attorney

Education: 1977, Moravian College, B.A.; 1980, Villanova Law School, J.D.

Occupation: District Attorney Background: District Attorney — 16 years; prosecuted numerous murder cases; PA Commission on Crime & Delinquency — 5 years; President, PA District Attorneys Assn. — 2 years; Special Deputy Attorney General; Special Prosecutor.

Answer to question: 1. Pass a gang statute that makes gang membership a crime so as to attack the gangs before they commit their next murder or drug deal. 2. Address the proliferation of handguns into the hands of criminals, young children and those with mental illness. 3. Abolish parole for violent criminals. 4. Crack down on illegal, criminal aliens who have no respect for our laws, commit crime and use fraudulent identities.

Tom Corbett

Harrisburg

Age: 59

Occupation: Pennsylvania Attorney General

Education: 1971, Lebanon Valley College, B.A.; 1975, St. Mary’s University School of Law, J.D.

Occupation: Pennsylvania Attorney General

Background: Attorney General of Pa. — 41/2 years; Assistant District Attorney in Allegheny County, 31/2 years; U.S. attorney, 4 years; Pa. Army National Guard, 13 years; Commissioner, Shaler Twp, 2 years

Answer to question: My top priority is making Pennsylvania a safer and better place to live, work and raise a family. As attorney general, I will continue protecting the most vulnerable of our communities such as our children and seniors from those who would do them harm, reaffirming the public’s trust in our elected officials, making sure that our communities are safe and free of drugs and gang activity and protecting Pennsylvania consumers from those who commit fraud.

Marakay Rogers

York

Age: 46

Occupation: Attorney

Education: 1981, Wilson College, B.A.; 1984, Dickinson School of Law, J.D.

Background: Practicing attorney with criminal-defense and civil-rights experience.

Answer to question: My particular areas of concern are stopping the unnecessary, wasteful prosecution of victimless crimes, abolishing the death penalty, and the protection of citizens’ rights, including defending Pennsylvanians’ right to privacy from government intrusion.

---