Deval Patrick on Crime Democratic Governor (MA) and presidential contender

Black Lives Matter doesn't mean you hate police

We get sold these competing slogans. And you know, you've got to choose one slogan or another to prove your bonafides, rather than getting down to the business of solving problems.

Police & black people often don't understand each other

PATRICK: It's very important I think that DOJ is investigating whether there's been a violation of civil or constitutional rights.

Did you want to see an indictment?

PATRICK: Without knowing all the facts, of course I wanted to see an indictment. And mostly because I think a trial & the transparency of a trial would be good for the community. And because so many of us have the supposition that police officers are not going to be held accountable & not going to have to answer for the shooting of unarmed, young, black teenagers. But the facts & the process, as the president said, does have to be respected. That is separate and apart from the anxiety so many black people have about encounters with law enforcement. The anxiety that some in law enforcement have about their encounters with black people and the startling lack of understanding between the two.

Marathon bomber will die in prison, one way or another

"One way or another, based on the evidence, Tsarnaev will die in prison," declared Gov. Deval Patrick. "The best we can do is remind each other that we are a stronger Commonwealth than ever and that nothing can break that spirit."

There's a Democrat in the White House, and Massachusetts Democrats don't want to cross him or his AG. There's also the posturing aspect of Holder's decision: seeking the death penalty increases the government's leverage to get a guilty verdict in return for life without parole. And to Massachusetts politicians, "Boston Strong" has come to mean looking tough to the nation on terrorism, not "squishy on crime."

Reform mandatory sentencing law: longer time for 3rd felony

Comprehensive reentry program with job training & education

We must be smarter about how we protect public safety. That means targeting the most dangerous and damaging for the strictest sentences, and better preparing the non-dangerous for eventual release and reintegration. We don't have to choose the one or the other, and emphasizing prison time without successful re-entry has failed.

Criticized for urging DNA tests in rape cases

In another matter, I had urged MA to conduct a DNA test on a convicted rapist whose guilt seemed in doubt. So another attack ad cast me as a friend of sexual predators and played into racist fears about black men and white women: The camera followed a woman walking through a dark garage, then viewers heard an interview with me in which I described the prisoner, with whom I had exchanged letters, as "thoughtful." The voiceover said, "Have you ever hear a woman compliment a rapist?" (For the record, the DNA test confirmed the man's guilt.)

As NAACP lawyer, freed wrongly convicted death row inmate

The judge opened the hearing by asking me directly, "Now then, Mr. Patrick, don't you just think there are some people who ought to die?"

"Well, Your Honor, we all will someday," I said. "But this proceeding is about whether his trial was fair."

The judge granted a stay. Our client was within hours of the death chamber by then, having had his last meal and his head shaved (which avoids the unpleasant odor of burning hair at electrocution). In the prosecutor's files, we found a sworn statement from an eyewitness positively identifying another man as the killer. Either it had been withheld from the court-appointed defense counsel or it had been disclosed and never used. Either way, my client's constitutional rights had been violated. His conviction and sentence were vacated, and he was granted a new trial.

Misuse of CORI system prevents getting back on their feet

Supports criminal rehabilitation and alternative sentencing

Indicate which principles you support regarding crime.
• Support programs to provide prison inmates with vocational and job-related skills.
• Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
• Increase state funding for community centers in areas with at-risk youth.
• Strengthen sex-offender laws.
• Allow police to ticket motorists for not wearing their safety belts, even if they have committed no other traffic violation.

Wrote letters to parole board for convicted rapist

I don't need to be lectured about crime

Focus on guns & gang violence, not immigration status

PATRICK: Well I think it’s a matter of priorities is what it is. The idea of training the state police so that they can recognize and do their duties, who can argue with that. But with gun and gang violence as soaring as it is in urban communities all over the Commonwealth it seems to me that there’s a whole lot else that we ought to have the state police and all law enforcement concentrating on. What I will do as governor is get engaged in the Congress with a balanced and rational approach advocated now on a bipartisan basis by Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy to bring some reason and some real solutions to our immigration issues.

Opposes death penalty

Deval Patrick On the issues
• Death penalty: Opposes