Balance the Scales of Justice in Texas

by: Todd Hill

Tue Dec 30, 2008 at 07:00 AM CST

Without a doubt an appropriate honor came the way of first-term District Attorney Craig Watkins when the Dallas Morning News chose to honor the African-American chief prosecutor of Dallas County as their Texan of the Year for 2008. I want to echo their nod.

Watkins benefited from the Dallas County Democratic sweep by landing in the Dallas County D.A.'s office in 2006. He has proceeded to transcend a new way of viewing and practicing justice in Texas. And, along the way, has opened the door for the wrongly convicted to have their due justice as well. In a state drunk on capital punishment, Watkins progressive tonic is a much needed refreshing dose of 21st century justice. The DMN adds:

He [Watkins] is actively pursuing a range of reforms that would protect the wrongly accused and appropriately punish the guilty. Not only does he want to clear the innocent, but he also hopes to extend the statute of limitations in DNA cases to ensure that the right person does the time.
He has reinvented his office by creating a conviction integrity unit, an operation that has freed prisoners who were wrongly locked up for murder, robbery and rape. Not content to just notch wins in the courtroom, Mr. Watkins deserves credit for vigilantly pursuing justice - a distinction with an important difference.
Dallas County leads the country in DNA exonerations (19 and counting), and Mr. Watkins has seized upon the attendant acclaim, taking his fight for social justice to statewide and national stages. In his sudden fame, he sees an opportunity to change the way district attorneys do business.

The Lone Star state has long been one that refused to look itself in the mirror and be willing to admit that perhaps the scales of justice have been out of balance on not just one occasion, but numerous in our history. Watkins DNA exoneration efforts, accomplished in conjuction with the Innocence Project, have shined a much needed light on the improprieties of the Texas judicial code; however, a much brighter light must be shone on the entire system.

At a time when our state is experiencing record amounts of minority crime, deaths amongst our states police forces are the highest in the nation, and our prisons are overcrowded, Texas is ripe for a new progressive approach to justice that balances appropriate corporal punishment with criminal rehabilitation. Low-level drug offenders and mentally ill individuals take up much needed prison space best suited for violent criminals, and younger individuals serving out their sentences are being released into society with little guidance or efforts at rehabilitation or societal acclimation. These examples represent opportunities to reform the Texas criminal justice system, free up prison space and lock away violent criminals, all the while preventing future crimes through necessary rehabilitation and societal acclimation programs. Moreover, we save money along the way.

Convict those clearly guilty of crimes and rehabilitate those capable of being rehabilitated. Put to death those beyond a reasonable doubt guilty of deadly criminal acts. Balance the scales of justice in Texas with the realities of the 21st century--all the while convicting those truly guilty of a crime. District Attorney Watkins has demonstrated a way to begin the process of establishing credibility for the Texas judicial system. Our state must now take advantage of this opportunity and take a couple of steps forward to make a clearly wrong system, right again.