We endorse . . .

In Tuesday's Dallas Morning News, the editorial board endorsed Judge John Creuzot for Criminal District Court No. 3, a position he currently holds. They cite Judge Creuzot for his innovative style, particularly his emphasis on DIVERT. DIVERT focuses on supervision, counseling and treatment instead of jail for non-violent drug offenders. They say he is appropriately tough on criminals and holds them responsible for their actions.

In Wednesday's Dallas Morning News, Tiara M. Ellis writes an article that makes me wonder if the editorial board has mistaken Judge Creuzot for someone else. Uriel Perez Palacios killed two people early Monday morning at Highway 75 and Mockingbird Lane. He was fleeing the police. He hit two SUV's so hard that the vehicles were not identifiable. A young couple married only since last July died. Several college students were injured.

Palacios has two convictions for drunk driving. Judge Creuzot, instead of jailing him, ordered a breathalyzer device installed in his 2002 Dodge Ram truck. Palacios was driving a Chevy Tahoe when the accident occurred, so we see this method of controlling drunk drivers is easy for them to get around. In fact, Palacios has gotten around it at least three times since January 14. In April Judge Creuzot ordered Mr. Palacios' bail raised from $3,500 to $100,555, and Palacios was rearrested. Then Creuzot changed his mind -- two weeks later he reinstated the $3,500 amount and ordered the breathalyzer lock -- something he already knew was of no use with this drunk. (By the way, Judge Creuzot changes his mind a lot -- he was a Democrat, then he was a Republican, now he's a Democrat again). In June, Palacios was arrested in Garland for DWI and driving without a license. Some kind of computer database confusion caused them to miss at least one of his previous DWI convictions, so he was released. Palacios did not show up for court dates, so the Judge raised his bail to $500,555 and issued a warrant for his arrest -- one that had still not been served when he killed two people.

To boil down Palacios' record -- 1) Feb. 2004 - sentenced to 135 days in jail for 2 counts of DWI. 2) Aug. 2005 - sentenced to 180 days in jail for violating probation on 2 prior evading arrest cases. 3) Nov. 2007 - arrested for drug possession and DWI. 4) Apr. 9, 2008 - Judge Creuzot orders him arrested for repeated failure of breathalyzer tests. 5) Apr. 23 - Judge Creuzot reinstates the lower bail amount. 6) Jun. 29 - arrested in Garland for DWI. And that's just the crimes and probation violations we know about -- no one knows how many times he didn't get caught.

It doesn't sound to me like Judge Creuzot is "appropriately tough on criminals." It doesn't sound to me like his "supervision, counseling, and treatment" work very well. It doesn't sound to me like Judge Creuzot "holds criminals responsible for their actions." Judge Creuzot will not comment on this case. I don't blame him. He's the reason two innocent people are dead. Maybe the newspaper should rethink its endorsement.

"Driver violated judge's order." The Dallas Morning News; September 3, 2008; p. 1A.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-crimdist3_02edi.ART.State.Edition1.4d598aa.html