Dallas Weekly names Dallas DA Craig Watkins Man of the Year

by Cheryl Smith of Dallas Weekly

His first 365 days in office, Mr. Watkins has catapulted to national and international status as the man who will not only convict the guilty but also free the innocent.

Craig Watkins

When District Attorney Craig Watkins was sworn in on January 1, 2007, Pastor Frederick D. Haynes III of Friendship-West Baptist Church referred to the occasion as ushering in a "new era."

During the campaign, he talked about making a change and working throughout the community to deal with some of the root causes of crime, like poverty and a lack of educational and employment opportunities. He also talked about finding a way to help the formerly incarcerated become productive citizens. And while others were touting a get-tough-on-crime message, Mr. Watkins was talking about being "smart on crime."

"I'm going to punish you for a purpose," he said. "The Republicans were tough on crime. I am not going to have a knee-jerk reaction. We still need to be tough on crime, but we also need to make sure that when you get out you are ready to live as a productive citizen!"

Along the campaign trail he told citizens, "When you have crime, you have victims. I want to figure out why things are happening and deal with some of those issues."

His first 365 days in office, Mr. Watkins has catapulted to national and international status as the man who will not only convict the guilty but also free the innocent.

Journalist Joyce King is writing a book about the 13 individuals who have been exonerated by DNA. It's a foregone conclusion that Mr. Watkins will be included especially since his office partnered with The Innocence Project of Texas to review DNA requests.

He has said time and time again that he knows innocent people have been sent to prison and in the past year, despite naysayers, he has proven himself to be true.

For stepping up to the plate and rising to the occasion, this Prairie View A&M University alum and Kappa Alpha Psi member is just the person to recognize as Newsmaker of the Year for 2007 and we are betting that he will be a hard act to follow in 2008!