07/17/2017
DALLAS COUNTY DEMOCRATIC DA CANDIDATE JOHN CREUZOT TOPS $150,000 RAISED
Support is a Measure of Positive Response to Ideas for Criminal Justice Reform
DALLAS (July 17, 2017) - John Creuzot, Democratic candidate for Dallas County District Attorney, raised $155,875 for the first reporting period of 2017. The campaign received 285 donations from a diverse group of Dallas County citizens, community leaders and members of the legal community. Creuzot is using the donations for direct voter outreach to share his message of innovation and positive change in the criminal justice system.
"Our campaign is about ideas for positive change. We want a fairer, more transparent, more innovative criminal justice system that makes the community safer and provides robust and effective help to those who need rehabilitation and a pathway back to a normal life. We've proven that good policy and solid programs not only help us identify the bad actors who need to be taken off the streets, but also allow us to help those who need it and thereby save taxpayer dollars, reduce prison populations, and ultimately make our community better. The funds we have raised so far are a strong response to these ideas," said Creuzot, a former district judge and chief felony prosecutor now in private practice as a criminal defense attorney.
In 1998, Creuzot established Dallas County's first-ever specialty court for drug offenses, known as DIVERT (Dallas Initiative for Expedited Recovery and Treatment), which allows selected first-time drug offenders to go through intensive, court-monitored rehabilitation instead of facing incarceration. Independent studies have shown that the DIVERT program achieved a 68-percent reduction in recidivism. A cost-benefit study by the SMU Economics Department showed that DIVERT saved taxpayers $9 in criminal justice costs for every $1 spent on participants in the program.
Creuzot has proposed using objective, data-driven research to try, test and perfect programs and policies of the DA's Office. Creuzot has also worked closely with the Innocence Project to use DNA evidence to free several wrongly-convicted persons. He has also pushed for enhancements and changes to the Conviction Integrity Unit to make it more independent and effective to prevent wrongful convictions. He has proposed an official, state-sponsored program to provide certificates of rehabilitation to former offenders who meet specific criteria, to make it easier for them to find jobs and to become productive members of society. He has opposed efforts to bring back mandatory-minimum sentencing because research shows it is ineffective.
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