The DA’s race pits two female lawyers against each other, but the candidates insist gender has nothing to do with it
Rashad O’Conner
These days, a woman assuming prominent political status is less of a rarity and more of trend. Augusta’s own judicial circuit bore witness to that in 2008 when Ashley Wright — known for duking it out against several of Georgia’s top criminal defense attorneys — became the city’s first female district attorney, making her one of many in the growing number of women appointed to the role across the country.
Her ascent to the seat was considered a “history making” moment by local media, but while Wright felt “amazingly honored” to be handed the position, gender was never at the forefront of her mind.
“You know, I went to a woman’s college, so I believe in smart women,” she attested. “But I don’t believe that it’s a job only for men and I don’t believe that it’s a job only for women. I believe that it’s a job for people who are qualified for the position and are willing to put the effort in.”
Her opponent Evita Paschall, who’s practiced civil law for a little over three decades, feels the same, stating that she has “never given it [her gender] much thought” and that her decision to run was never gender-based.
In fact, gender has been the least of Paschall’s concerns; her focus is on visibility, something she says Wright currently lacks. Earlier this year, Paschall conducted a poll in three of the circuit’s counties — Burke, Columbia and Richmond — which concluded that not only are many residents unaware of Wright’s gender, they “don’t even know what her name is.”
“In my estimation, it indicates that the DA feels that voters don’t matter, that they aren’t important,” Paschall said of the poll results. “It’s important that voters understand that you are accountable to them, and to not be visible in the community — whether by appearing somewhere to speak or visiting schools — it shows that you aren’t showing accountability.
Everyone remembers [former district attorney] Daniel Craig because he was visible. Those who took the poll acknowledged that if the current DA [Wright] walked through the door, they wouldn’t even recognize her.”
With the guarantee of visibility being made a priority in her “administration,” Paschall also touched on her qualifications. A graduate of the University of Georgia’s School of Law, the civil law attorney immediately began working for Augusta’s District Attorney’s office under Richard Allen and later prosecuted in the city’s magistrate court under Judge Cooper.
Through it all, Paschall continued practicing law, picking up valuable life lessons along the way. Of her journey in the legal field, she said that if “you haven’t lived and truly experienced life, then you certainly don’t need to be a DA.”
But Wright assured that she is not without her own humble beginnings. Beyond telemarketing, waiting tables and working retail, the sitting district attorney has also served a stint volunteering for the Junior League, an organization she feels is often misjudged.
“There’s a perception that Junior League work involves sitting around sipping tea with white gloves,” Wright said. “But during my time volunteering, I helped with attic sales — working in warehouses around rats and other varmint. I think that all types of experiences help prepare you for the next challenge.”
For Wright, the next challenge was picking up where Craig left off, a task that was perhaps not considered “challenging” per se to the current district attorney, but rather simply “part of the job.”
“The competition for trial time is always a bit difficult,” Wright admitted. “Working on policy is something we focus on throughout the year, obviously more so in the time leading up to the legislative session and during the legislative session. We believe that meeting face-to-face with the legislator [in Atlanta] for that particular matter is always imperative.”
Other challenges Wright pointed out since assuming her position included standard administrative duties.
“We’re dealing with budgets, we’re dealing with employees, it’s a lot to handle,” she said. “We’re also trying to prevent furlough days, which we’ve had a lot of since I took over. We’re trying to make sure that those [furlough] days don’t impact the court process.”
From resolving a sexual assault case — involving a girl who “darn near lost her life after providing oral sex to a man [Willie Tyler]” — to a serial rapist case, both back-to-back in the matter of a year, Wright confirmed that her passion has always been in the courtroom. But the former prosecutor admitted that since acquiring the district attorney’s seat in 2008, she has had far less time to work out of her beloved niche.
“I miss being in the courtroom,” she said. “And it’s been a little more of a struggle for me to carry a regular caseload along with the other administrative duties and obligations that I’ve had.”
The cases that Wright has been able to address in the past year have ranged from the foulest of sexual assaults to the most senseless of petty crimes. But she confirmed that her main intolerance is toward those crimes that can ultimately be prevented.
“The ones where children in particular are involved and get hurt upset me,” Wright elaborated. “Also, crimes against individuals who are vulnerable, whether they are mentally disabled or handicapped. And, of course, crimes against the elderly, whether by defrauding them of their money or taking advantage of them in other ways. Those are the ones that really seem to break everybody’s spirits.”
Paschall agreed with Wright’s comment regarding the elderly, stating that if she were to win her fellow attorney’s seat, she would plan to “send a message to the community that such crimes against senior citizens would not be tolerated.” The current civil law attorney went on to reveal that she was actually made victim of a senseless crime: the burglary of her home.
“My own home was burglarized, and let me tell you, once your house is burglarized, you latch onto this feeling that never goes away,” she said of the incident and its aftermath. “You know that somebody was in your house, ransacking through your things. It really leaves behind a large emotional scar.”
Carrying the challenges of their work as attorneys as well as their own personal plights, both Wright and Paschall feel a deep sense of admiration for the work they do.
“I know what it feels like to be a victim,” Paschall began. “And to know that I’ve made a difference in someone else’s [a victim’s] life, well, that’s better than Christmas. Because every now and then, there’s this one client that looks you in the eye and says, ‘Thank you,’ and they genuinely mean it to the point where they’re almost in tears. That’s the moment when you know that you’ve really made a difference in their lives. It’s rewarding in a way that’s difficult for most to understand.”
Many citizens believe that crime occurs in a bubble, defiling only the lives of those directly involved. But for Wright, that perspective is never the case.
“It doesn’t just happen in a bubble,” she said. “It’s a home in someone’s neighborhood that gets broken into; everybody in the neighborhood that knows about it feels less safe. That’s why I’m passionate about the work I do as district attorney: it’s a great job and it gives me the opportunity to help people. We try to help people affected by such crimes get through the process. We try to help them get through the pain. We try to help them see that they’re going to come out on the other side and that they’re going to be able to survive.”You Might Also Like:
Girl’s Club
The DA’s race pits two female lawyers against each other, but the candidates insist gender has nothing to do with it
Rashad O’Conner
These days, a woman assuming prominent political status is less of a rarity and more of trend. Augusta’s own judicial circuit bore witness to that in 2008 when Ashley Wright — known for duking it out against several of Georgia’s top criminal defense attorneys — became the city’s first female district attorney, making her one of many in the growing number of women appointed to the role across the country.
Her ascent to the seat was considered a “history making” moment by local media, but while Wright felt “amazingly honored” to be handed the position, gender was never at the forefront of her mind.
“You know, I went to a woman’s college, so I believe in smart women,” she attested. “But I don’t believe that it’s a job only for men and I don’t believe that it’s a job only for women. I believe that it’s a job for people who are qualified for the position and are willing to put the effort in.”
Her opponent Evita Paschall, who’s practiced civil law for a little over three decades, feels the same, stating that she has “never given it [her gender] much thought” and that her decision to run was never gender-based.
In fact, gender has been the least of Paschall’s concerns; her focus is on visibility, something she says Wright currently lacks. Earlier this year, Paschall conducted a poll in three of the circuit’s counties — Burke, Columbia and Richmond — which concluded that not only are many residents unaware of Wright’s gender, they “don’t even know what her name is.”
“In my estimation, it indicates that the DA feels that voters don’t matter, that they aren’t important,” Paschall said of the poll results. “It’s important that voters understand that you are accountable to them, and to not be visible in the community — whether by appearing somewhere to speak or visiting schools — it shows that you aren’t showing accountability.
Everyone remembers [former district attorney] Daniel Craig because he was visible. Those who took the poll acknowledged that if the current DA [Wright] walked through the door, they wouldn’t even recognize her.”
With the guarantee of visibility being made a priority in her “administration,” Paschall also touched on her qualifications. A graduate of the University of Georgia’s School of Law, the civil law attorney immediately began working for Augusta’s District Attorney’s office under Richard Allen and later prosecuted in the city’s magistrate court under Judge Cooper.
Through it all, Paschall continued practicing law, picking up valuable life lessons along the way. Of her journey in the legal field, she said that if “you haven’t lived and truly experienced life, then you certainly don’t need to be a DA.”
But Wright assured that she is not without her own humble beginnings. Beyond telemarketing, waiting tables and working retail, the sitting district attorney has also served a stint volunteering for the Junior League, an organization she feels is often misjudged.
“There’s a perception that Junior League work involves sitting around sipping tea with white gloves,” Wright said. “But during my time volunteering, I helped with attic sales — working in warehouses around rats and other varmint. I think that all types of experiences help prepare you for the next challenge.”
For Wright, the next challenge was picking up where Craig left off, a task that was perhaps not considered “challenging” per se to the current district attorney, but rather simply “part of the job.”
“The competition for trial time is always a bit difficult,” Wright admitted. “Working on policy is something we focus on throughout the year, obviously more so in the time leading up to the legislative session and during the legislative session. We believe that meeting face-to-face with the legislator [in Atlanta] for that particular matter is always imperative.”
Other challenges Wright pointed out since assuming her position included standard administrative duties.
“We’re dealing with budgets, we’re dealing with employees, it’s a lot to handle,” she said. “We’re also trying to prevent furlough days, which we’ve had a lot of since I took over. We’re trying to make sure that those [furlough] days don’t impact the court process.”
From resolving a sexual assault case — involving a girl who “darn near lost her life after providing oral sex to a man [Willie Tyler]” — to a serial rapist case, both back-to-back in the matter of a year, Wright confirmed that her passion has always been in the courtroom. But the former prosecutor admitted that since acquiring the district attorney’s seat in 2008, she has had far less time to work out of her beloved niche.
“I miss being in the courtroom,” she said. “And it’s been a little more of a struggle for me to carry a regular caseload along with the other administrative duties and obligations that I’ve had.”
The cases that Wright has been able to address in the past year have ranged from the foulest of sexual assaults to the most senseless of petty crimes. But she confirmed that her main intolerance is toward those crimes that can ultimately be prevented.
“The ones where children in particular are involved and get hurt upset me,” Wright elaborated. “Also, crimes against individuals who are vulnerable, whether they are mentally disabled or handicapped. And, of course, crimes against the elderly, whether by defrauding them of their money or taking advantage of them in other ways. Those are the ones that really seem to break everybody’s spirits.”
Paschall agreed with Wright’s comment regarding the elderly, stating that if she were to win her fellow attorney’s seat, she would plan to “send a message to the community that such crimes against senior citizens would not be tolerated.” The current civil law attorney went on to reveal that she was actually made victim of a senseless crime: the burglary of her home.
“My own home was burglarized, and let me tell you, once your house is burglarized, you latch onto this feeling that never goes away,” she said of the incident and its aftermath. “You know that somebody was in your house, ransacking through your things. It really leaves behind a large emotional scar.”
Carrying the challenges of their work as attorneys as well as their own personal plights, both Wright and Paschall feel a deep sense of admiration for the work they do.
“I know what it feels like to be a victim,” Paschall began. “And to know that I’ve made a difference in someone else’s [a victim’s] life, well, that’s better than Christmas. Because every now and then, there’s this one client that looks you in the eye and says, ‘Thank you,’ and they genuinely mean it to the point where they’re almost in tears. That’s the moment when you know that you’ve really made a difference in their lives. It’s rewarding in a way that’s difficult for most to understand.”
Many citizens believe that crime occurs in a bubble, defiling only the lives of those directly involved. But for Wright, that perspective is never the case.
“It doesn’t just happen in a bubble,” she said. “It’s a home in someone’s neighborhood that gets broken into; everybody in the neighborhood that knows about it feels less safe. That’s why I’m passionate about the work I do as district attorney: it’s a great job and it gives me the opportunity to help people. We try to help people affected by such crimes get through the process. We try to help them get through the pain. We try to help them see that they’re going to come out on the other side and that they’re going to be able to survive.”You Might Also Like:
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