DALLAS – Today, a coalition of grassroots and faith-based leaders across Dallas County are applauding District Attorney John Creuzot for unveiling policy proposals that will help put an end to unjust practices that have criminalized the Dallas community for decades. The coalition, which includes Faith in Texas, ACLU of Texas, and Texas Organizing Project, is working with the new DA to ensure his promises are more than words and is encouraging him to be an active leader in the effort to end systemic injustice.
"Thank you District Attorney John Creuzot for championing justice starting on your first day of office. We recognize and appreciate your voice of moral courage and the use of your elected political power to value the most vulnerable in our community,” said Kortni Blackmon, national LIVE FREE organizer working with Faith in Texas.
Blackmon added: “We look forward to working with you to put your promises into action through hosting monthly community meetings, setting a clear and explicit decarceration goal for Dallas County and publicly releasing your operational budget.
“We are encouraged by your leadership, Mr. Creuzot. Thank you for raising the bar in Dallas County,” said Brittany White, Live Free Texas Campaign Manager. “We believe this is a powerful first step in the right direction, but the path to justice is long. We, therefore, are counting on all other elected officials to follow suit, in dignity and with fairness for all. May Dallas County work to completely reform this broken system, manifesting the power of people when they are able to reclaim their humanity, their due justice, and their wholeness.”
"Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot’s reform proposals are the start of dramatic changes residents have demanded to address deeply rooted issues in the local criminal justice system,” said Sharon Watkins Jones, director of political strategies for the ACLU of Texas. “It is my hope Creuzot will spend his time in office to continue promoting reform that truly benefits Dallas communities.”
"We applaud DA Creuzot for recognizing that racial disparities exist in the criminal justice system and that Black people are disproportionately targeted. We cannot have a fair criminal justice system without first admitting that it is steeped in racism,” said TOP Deputy Director Brianna Brown. “What Creuzot is proposing today begins to acknowledge that we are not made safer by just throwing people in jail. Incarceration should be a last resort. We look forward to continuing our work with Creuzot to end mass incarceration in our communities.”
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Faith in Texas is a multifaith, multiracial organization working to honor God by achieving systemic change through faith-based community organizing to create pathways of opportunity for all Texans. Faith in Texas is an affiliate of the Faith in Action network, the nation’s largest network developing civic leadership in low- and moderate-income faith communities.
The LIVE FREE Campaign is a campaign of Faith in Action (formerly PICO National Network), the largest grassroots, faith-based organizing network in the United States. We are committed to ending structural discrimination and the mass criminalization of people of color by mobilizing the faith community to reduce the number of gun-related shootings and homicides, decrease the number of individuals incarcerated and increase opportunity for those caught in these deadly cycles.
Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris and Bexar counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.
The ACLU of Texas is a non-profit, non-partisan, civil rights organization working to secure and protect the civil rights for Texans throughout the state. The organization focuses on legal, policy, and advocacy work to help push for the rights of all Texans. The ACLU of Texas focuses on immigrants’ rights, smart justice, LGBTQ equality, reproductive rights, and voting rights.