Durham DA: ‘Stop pretending reform is the real threat to public safety’
Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry defended criminal justice reforms she and other progressive prosecutors are making to a U.S. House subcommittee Tuesday.
“We have to stop pretending reform is the real threat to public safety and recognize how over-reliance on prosecution and incarceration may make us less safe,” Deberry told the Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on crime during a hearing.
“We do not need to choose between reform and public safety,” she said. “Those two are inherently linked.”
Deberry’s remarks came during a hearing, “Re-imagining Public Safety in the COVID-19 Era,” on the rise of violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic and how the federal government can enhance public safety, said subcommittee Chair U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat. Violent crime is largely policed by local communities, but federal support can be provided through grants and programs.
Tuesday’s hearing came amid a discussion unfolding in the Triangle and across the nation as reform-minded prosecutors face backlash and blame for rising crime.
While property crime, burglary and larceny fell during the pandemic, the FBI reports a historic rise in murder rates nationwide during 2020. In North Carolina violent crime increased from 356 crimes per 100,000 people annually to 419.
In 2021, Durham’s 50 homicides marked a 35% increase over the previous year and the most since the police started tracking shootings in 1995. The number of people shot fell from 318 to 280, The News & Observer reported.
Some experts have linked the increases in gun violence to stress from COVID-19, strained police and community relations and the high number of guns circulating after record gun sales the past two years.
In some cases, moderate mayors in Democratic-majority urban cities are criticizing or not supporting progressive prosecutors, The New York Times recently reported.
The paper’s story also highlighted nuanced views within minority communities, as some residents call for more alternatives to arrests and convictions, while others want to address racism but also support robust policing and prosecution.
Partisan debate
Tuesday’s four-hour hearing also featured the Dallas police chief, mayor of Houston and representatives from the National Urban League, a New York victims rights reform group and the Council on Criminal Justice.
House members also made comments, turning much of the conversation into another partisan debate with Republicans saying Democrats want to defund the police.
Democrats mostly argued for exploring community intervention programs, increased background checks and regulation of certain gun sales, and communities supporting and working with police.
In addition to more violent crime, including the murder of police officers, many communities have also experienced an increase of use-of-force by law enforcement officers during the pandemic, Jackson Lee said.
In 2021, police shot and killed 1,055 people, the most since tracking started in 2015, she said. In addition, reports of racial and religious profiling by police and excessive use of force that disproportionately affect the Black and brown community erodes public confidence and trust in law enforcement, she said.
“I have seen where police and community have worked together, turned the corner on this,” she said. “The admiration is strong and the relationship is strong. And they work together to fight crime. That is what we want to see in our nation.”
Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan said Democrats need to stop “re-imagining” and start using more common sense.
“When you don’t prosecute bad guys, you shouldn’t be surprised when you get more crime,” he said.
‘Misguided and misinformed’
Deberry disagreed with such statements.
Prison is warranted in serious cases, she said, but there is little evidence it reduces crime. In some cases high incarceration rates can increase crime and other community harms, she said.
“Blaming reform-minded prosecutors for increases in violent crime is misguided and misinformed. Many of my peers and I have structured our offices and policies entirely around more effective prosecution of violent offenses,” she said.
Deberry said her office has increased coordination with law enforcement on serious crimes, resulting in stronger cases and more homicide and cold-case convictions.
Criticism by Democrats
While the back and forth at Tuesday’s hearing was between Republicans and Democrats, Deberry’s claims of focusing on the most violent crimes while implementing reform has been questioned by members of her own party.
Durham defense attorneys Daniel Meier and Jonathan Wilson II are challenging Deberry in the May 17 Democratic primary.
In interviews, Meier has said Deberry’s office is inconsistent in prosecuting violent crimes, sometimes touting long sentences in press releases but not discussing plea deals with shorter sentences on lesser crimes that left victims and families frustrated.
Convictions don’t always mean those convicted got an appropriate sentences, he said, as first-degree murder charges can be downgraded to second-degree murder or manslaughter.
“Convictions are easy,” Meier said. “Justice is hard.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 6:09 PM.
