After addressing the College Democrats Monday night, Centre County District Attorney candidate Anthony De Boef said the office's prosecution of students involved in the Oct. 25 riot is "just not appropriate."

While police did a "good job" investigating the incident, students who were in the area and simply failed to disperse should not be facing the same felony riot charges levied against those who damaged property, De Boef said.

"They've all been charged with the same crimes," he said.

During De Boef's meeting with the group, a student asked about the charges against The Daily Collegian photographer Michael Felletter. De Boef said he is not familiar with the specifics of the case, but the charges are "ludicrous" unless it can be proven Felletter was inciting the crowd by taking pictures.

Although the district attorney's office needs to be "firm and tough" with students who deserve punishment, it must be "fair and compassionate" to 18- to 22-year-olds who are living alone for the first time, De Boef said.

"I'm not comfortable with arresting everyone who wants to do the Mifflin Streak," De Boef said, referring to an annual streak that usually consists of a men who run across campus and sometimes stop at women's dorms.

As a local defense attorney, he said he sees the "pain and inequity" of the way cases -- many involving students -- are handled.

"Not everything's a crime," De Boef said. The discretion of what is and what is not a crime is "the first and most important job" of the district attorney, he added.

While current District Attorney Michael Madeira places students charged with possession of small amounts of marijuana in the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program -- which carries an $800 fine -- De Boef said he would favor more lenient punishment options.

College Democrats President Sean Meloy said it was important for students to meet with De Boef, a Democratic candidate, in a comfortable setting.

"We had some drug and alcohol questions," Meloy said. "I don't know if kids would have felt comfortable doing that in a room full of professors and adults from State College."

Dustin Dove (junior-secondary education) said he thinks a lot of students find Madeira "heavy handed" and that he was really impressed by De Boef.

"He's not really about the flash," Dove said, referring to De Boef's quiet nature during the presentation. "He's more about the substance."

During the question-and-answer session, a student asked De Boef about Madeira's prosecution of Andrew Rogers.

Rogers, convicted of third-degree murder in 2007, was granted a new trial in December after a judge ruled Madeira had illegally supressed evidence.

Madeira made a "fundamental error" by deeming the evidence unimportant to the case, De Boef said.

De Boef declared his candidacy two weeks ago, after Madeira, a Republican, announced he would seek reelection Jan. 30.

Attorney Stacy Parks Miller, also a Democrat, announced her candidacy last week.

"I just have a lot more experience than she does," De Boef said, pointing out that he served as assistant district attorney in Centre County in the 1990s.