Texans realize how many conservative and libertarian Americans from other states, especially liberal ones, rely on their red state to carry the banner of American liberty high and proud. But when we see stories like this one coming out of the Lone Star State, we should worry about our republic, shouldn’t we?
Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot —cops used to count DAs as allies of law enforcement— has decriminalized crime in his city. In fact, on DA Creuzot’s Internet home page, you’ll find this gem: “I will always seek fair and equal justice for the residents of Dallas County.” How can he promise that when he refuses, as a matter of policy, not to prosecute certain people for certain crimes? Oh, right…he conflates the subjective fair with the objective equal. Nice trick.
American Thinker reports, “Creuzot will ‘decriminalize’ most petty crimes against property, reform the bail system, and refuse to prosecute first-time drug offenders. Creuzot says he’ll decline to prosecute theft of personal items worth less than $750 unless the theft was for financial gain.”
First, crimes are not committed “against property”; they are crimes committed against real people who own that property. What Creuzot has done is create a whole new class of victim: people unfortunate enough to not have property stolen valued at over $749.00. And who are left with no recourse but to absorb the loss.
And what the hell is he talking about, financial gain? We’re not talking about people stealing $749 worth of peanut butter, bread, or packages of ramen noodles because they were hungry! Unless you’re stealing a sandwich, how is anything a criminal steals not “for financial gain”? Doesn’t any item worth stealing have value? And don’t we have to ask how someone can steal something worth $749, and it’s not for financial gain?
Seems like “for financial gain” is simply a toss-away phrase Creuzot inserted for political cover. Regardless, even stealing a sandwich is “for financial gain.” There are plenty of food banks and soup kitchens in large cities like Dallas. If someone steals a sandwich, then they can use money they beg, borrow, or steal to buy drugs or alcohol.
Creuzot also conflates crime with poverty. He says he’s “decriminalizing poverty.” Nonsense. As even the sympathetic Dallas Morning News reminds the DA, “most poor people in this city are law-abiding citizens. And sometimes, petty criminals escalate their activities to more serious offenses when enforcement is slack on more minor crimes.” Eureka!
Many studies have shot to hell the poverty-crime correlation myth. Even during the widespread poverty of the Great Depression, crime rates were low. Don’t believe it? Then, take it from NPR, hardly a conservative voice: “The Depression years had very little crime.”
And Creuzot is not the only soft-on-crime, supposed “law enforcer” in the nation. It seems Seattle’s city attorney, Pete Holmes, has never met a street criminal he didn’t want to acquit or a cop he didn’t want to prosecute.
By the way, just how many “petty crimes” does a person have to commit before it’s no longer considered petty? Many so-called petty criminals in major cities are not held accountable after committing thousands of crimes. Back to Pete Holmes, King 5 News in Seattle says, “the 100 ‘prolific offenders’ are responsible for more than 3,500 criminal cases…”
Suffolk County (Mass.) DA Rachel Rollins (whose jurisdiction includes Boston) raises being pro-criminal, anti-cop to an artform: on her list of sixteen decriminalized offenses she includes refusing to prosecute criminals for resisting arrest. Yes, you heard that right!
Incrementally, municipal and county prosecutors, city and county councils across the country, from Boston to Dallas to Chicago (Jussie Smollett) to San Francisco (Kate Steinle), are officially or tacitly decriminalizing crime. Rational people across the country must fight to return sanity to law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
If neo-leftist DAs such as Creuzot can get away with decriminalizing crime even in a city like Dallas, Texas, then any major American city is vulnerable. Don’t forget, the neo-socialists who’ve hijacked the Democratic Party will do anything, fair, unfair, and even illegal, to make sure they turn America into something our founders would not recognize. They want to extinguish what Abraham Lincoln reminded us is “the last best hope of earth.” The question is: Will Americans let that happen?
