Following an editorial board meeting with Craig Watkins, the Dallas Morning News has two editorials with advice for the county's new district attorney. First is, "Match zeal for reform with zeal for verdicts."
He talked passionately about wanting to institute numerous programs to prevent low-level offenders from becoming hardened career criminals. Yet he also strongly came out in favor of the death penalty and long sentences for murderers and rapists. When asked about calls in Austin for the death penalty for child abusers, he called it a bad idea and predicted that lawmakers would reject it. The proposal, he says, "dumbs down the system."
We are now eager to see how he plans to carry out fundamental changes in the office's approach to justice. Yes, he's replaced several experienced prosecutors, a sign that he's assembling a team committed to his philosophy. And he promises to not evaluate prosecutors on their conviction rates, which he believes can skew justice.
The second editorial is "Eye on exonerations can restore office's integrity."
It was a symbolic stunner – in a good way – that Mr. Watkins twice appeared in court during exoneration hearings and apologized to men who spent years in prison for someone else's crimes.
Shouldering blame is an empty gesture, however, without correcting faults that caused the problems. In that regard, Mr. Watkins made a positive move in ordering a review of the 12 exonerations in order to root out weaknesses in the way prosecutors handled their cases.
Mr. Watkins surely will find that the DA's office has made critical improvements since some of the 12 convictions, especially with the evolution of DNA technology. Elsewhere, it's vital for him to analyze the county's jury-selection procedures and use of eyewitness identification, two glaring weaknesses in the past.
The new DA sets a strong, overarching tone with his expectation that prosecutors pay more attention to evidence that might exclude potential suspects and not just focus on conviction statistics.
At either editorial there is a link to streaming video of the editorial board meeting.
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