Washington Watch for Nov. 30, 2008

• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Westside bureau
• Published: Nov 30, 2008 - Page: 7B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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John Pilinski Jr. has become the Willie Horton of northwest Louisiana.

Pilinksi, a drug addict and career criminal, has been injected into the bruising campaign to fill the seat of the retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Jim McCrery of Shreveport.

Pilinski has been convicted 54 times, for mostly petty offenses to feed his habit. But in September 2007, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for breaking into a house.

Pilinski was paroled within a year, however, because a court clerk wrongly typed a “1” instead of a “10” on sentencing papers. Within weeks, Pilinski was caught trying to steal an SUV and thrown behind bars again.

Pilinski’s offense is much less serious than the one of murderer Horton. Horton was freed under in a Massachusetts furlough program and later savagely attacked a Maryland couple. The ensuing controversy helped cost Democratic Gov. Michael Dukakis the presidency in 1988.

Republican Dr. John Fleming, of Minden, is trying to use the same tactic against Democratic Caddo Parish District Attorney Paul Carmouche, his opponent for Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District seat.

Fleming points to the Pilinski case — and another that freed a drunken driver who went on to kill somebody — as evidence that Carmouche is soft on crime.

“He’s always had a reputation for being soft on crime,” Fleming said. “They have a nickname for him: ‘Cut ’em loose Carmouche.’ ”

Carmouche, who has been district attorney for 30 years, accuses Fleming of distorting his record. The drunk driver was freed because of a judge’s sentence. And Pilinski’s release was a clerical error.

“We didn’t let him out, the clerk made a mistake,” Carmouche said. “We didn’t know that he was out.”

Carmouche, who said his office has prosecuted 300,000 cases, is comfortable with crime as an issue in the race. His office has put 17 criminals on death row  — and he has been re-elected five times.

“We have a tough record and I think it stands against any district attorney in the country,” Carmouche said. “People know me and people know my record.”

The battle shows how volatile the race has become. Fleming’s only other elected office was as coroner for Webster Parish. but he has proved to be a formidable foe, and has already won two tough races against Republican opponents.