I first read about Craig Watkins in the 5 March 2007 issue of The Washington Post. He was sworn in as Dallas County (TX) district attorney on 1 January 2007 - the first elected black DA in Texas history. That feat alone would be enough, but Watkins announced that he would allow the Texas affiliate of the Innocence Project (www.innocenceproject.org/) to review hundreds of Dallas County cases dating back to 1970 to decide whether DNA testing should be invoked.
The Innocence Project is a nonprofit legal clinic created in 1992 by attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld that is best known for using DNA testing to exonerate those wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. The Project has helped free over 200 people who had spent more than 2,500 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.
Texas has had more exonerations - 28 - than any other state. Illinois clocks in with 27, attributed mainly to the interest in these cases generated by a former governor, conservative Republican George Ryan. Ironically, Ryan was later convicted on 18 counts of corruption.
Dallas County has had 13 exonerations in the past 5 years alone. Most of the Dallas County exonerations stem from cases tried in the 1980s under the county's legendary law-and-order DA, Henry Wade.
Watkins' exoneration program was immediately branded "Hug-A-Thug" by his critics. Watkins retorted that he was interested in seeking justice and sending the right people to prison, not just throwing anyone in prison. As he said, "It is not about coddling criminals, it's about being smart."
This strikes me as a remarkable attitude for a DA - let's ensure that dispensing justice is the first order of business, not simply tossing warm bodies in prison.
Watkins noted that his two previous applications for prosecutorial positions in the Dallas County DA's office were rejected. This is the same county that once produced a manual on how to exclude minorities from Texas juries.
Soft on crime? I think not. Hard on injustice is more like it.
"Sacred cows make great hambugers."
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