S.L. District Attorney Lohra Miller, challenger Sim Gill debate

SALT LAKE CITY — When you are one the top law enforcement officials in the county, you sometimes have to answer tough questions. Just ask current Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller and the man who would like to replace her, Salt Lake City prosecutor Sim Gill.

Both were invited to a candidates forum at the Utah Poverty Partnership annual People's Summit on Poverty on Saturday.

Each was asked to answer three questions posed by a moderator. The first query concerned enforcement of a proposed "Arizona-style" immigration law for Utah. While both said they would uphold any and all laws as required, they also said they would not do so if a law was constitutionally invalid.

"I believe strongly that it is important for us to continue the course of making changes and making our community a better place to live," Miller said.

Gill said he would urge legislators to draft a constitutionally defensible bill that would be fair and legally enforceable.

"I like my Legislature, but I love my Constitution," he said. "I will enforce the laws that are given to me, but as public prosecutors, (Lohra and I would agree that) racial profiling has no place in any kind of enforcement of the law."

The second question the candidates fielded asked if Miller and Gill would pursue employers who refused to pay their undocumented workers.

"I believe that it is absolutely immoral that if someone … in good faith gives (performs) labor or services and another human being simply exploits that labor … that is abhorrent to me," Gill said.

Miller called such exploitation "an abomination" and said, "It is something that cannot be tolerated by our society."

Both vowed to protect workers from employers who would take unfair advantage of them due to their proposed immigration status.

The third and final question asked if they would be willing to develop alternative solutions to "criminalizing" homelessness.

"We must do what we can in our community to make sure that the vulnerable, the poor, the mentally ill (and) our children are taken care of," Miller said. She added that her office is continuing to develop alternatives that address the issue prosecuting the chronically homeless.

Gill said he also supported alternatives to incarceration and criminalizing an individual's "status, period."

He said the challenge is that a disproportionate amount of people behind bars suffer from mental illness and should be receiving treatment for their condition. He said he supports more constructive assistance for those who would benefit.

The two will face off in November.

e-mail: jlee@desnews.com