When the Law Is Not Applied Equally: Questions Raised by the Prosecution of El Dorado's Former Mayor
By Rena Borden - El Dorado Former Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer was arrested and charged with felony theft in 2024, while others who played central roles were not . That difference alone raises serious questions about selective enforcement and how the law is applied in practice. The charge was based on her decision to move funds from a nonprofit organization that was not in compliance into another nonprofit that was in compliance and served a similar mission. https://arkansasag.gov/news-release/former-el-dorado-mayor-arrested-on-theft-charge/ To understand why that decision was made, the events leading up to it matter. In October 2022, I began trying to help raise a reward for a missing young woman in El Dorado, Arkansas. Ieshia Jackson disappeared on October 31, 2020. Her case remains unsolved. I was directed to contact Captain Scott Harwell, who served as the liaison between El Dorado Crime Stoppers and the El Dorado Police Department. Captain Harwell inst...