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 April 10, 2008 in 

Well we’ve obviously had this political mantra over the last 30 years about “getting tough on crime.” And I think too often, buried in that mantra is the implication that there’s no room for fair justice. We’ve stripped away protections for the accused. And as a result, I think many prosecutors went into a case with blinders on—like everyone was guilty. The more convictions you won, the better your chances to get re-elected or to move on to higher office. We’re now seeing the fallout from that mentality. Hopefully, the problems we’re now encountering will help it to change.

See Radley Balko’s reason.com interview with Dallas County DA Craig Watkins.

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6 Comments

  1. Michael April 10, 2008 at 3:33 pm - Reply

    I’m hoping that Watkins’s catchphrase “getting SMART on crime” becomes the new touchstone for prosecutors. I still remember attending a video of the Advanced Crim Law Seminar from 2005, and retching when a HCADA began a discussion on when he considers a criminal defendant “deathworthy”. I read the newspaper for the next 45 minutes. Sorry, folks, an appointment to be an ADA does not make you God.

  2. zero April 10, 2008 at 4:02 pm - Reply

    Mark, off the subject here, will you comment about AHCL’s comments that his blog will now become non-political or a lot less political. It appears to me that he or she is acting like she is afraid to lose her job at the DA’s office now that her candidate has been defeated but she is couching it on terms of that readers have complained to much about the politics of his Blog.

  3. Michael April 10, 2008 at 4:05 pm - Reply

    Well, I will. It looked more and more to me like AHCL’s blog, whether it started out that way or not, became a de facto campaign blog for Siegler. I don’t know whether she’s worried about losing her job, or just worn out after losing the race. I’d be interested in what topics she’ll be discussing now.

  4. Mark Bennett April 10, 2008 at 4:15 pm - Reply

    I think any damage that AHCL might do to her chances of remaining with the Office under Lykos has already been done. Moving away from politics now is not going to help that.

    AHCL is tired and disillusioned, and has much more to write about than just politics. (I expect she’ll enter the fray once more to endorse Bradford, who may be as unqualified as Lykos, but isn’t as cruel.)

  5. Michael April 10, 2008 at 4:16 pm - Reply

    Mark, you’re in Houston and I’m not. But I’d rather see Lykos than Bradford as the next DA. I’d choose the unpopular judge over the unethical cop 10 times out of 10.

    Who do you think you’ll support?

  6. […] America’s Best Prosecutor? [via Bennett’s blog] & Why is the Senate wasting time with a capital counsel hearing? [via Doug B.] ] […]

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