Fort Bend County Criminal Defense Attorney Association PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release Dear District Attorney Healey, We, the organized criminal bar of Fort Bend County, are calling on your office, and all District Attorney offices across this state, to adopt policies that minimize the disproportionate consequences of all immigrants regardless of status, undocumented residents, and lawful permanent residents of this country when they encounter the criminal justice system here in Texas. This is not special treatment. It is a request that the unjustified and unprecedented brutal consequences of any arrest or minor infraction of law be considered by your office and that those consequences be taken into account, just as youth, a clean record , or other individual circumstances are taken into account for all those who come into contact with the criminal justice system here. Exile from family should not be the consequence of a teenager's first charge of possession of marijuana. A man or woman who owns property here and works and raises a family here should not be torn from them simply because they had a fist fight with a brother in law or were intoxicated at Christmas. Just and proportionate punishment are the hallmarks of a fair criminal justice system. We should work together to get back to this place. The current immigration system punishes those who never had a choice in coming here as they came as children. It prevents those who witness a crime from coming forward to testify if they do not have a clear immigration status. It forces people whose desire is to work and find a path to citizenship into the shadows. It forces those who are here legally on work and student visas to fear their future is at risk in every interaction with police. We pledge our assistance and the expertise of our bar in helping to implement what we believe our county's citizens need. We ask for the following from your office: Fort Bend County Criminal Defense Attorney Association 1) Establish an internal review of your own policies to see where they could be made to have less harsh consequences while still providing for the public safety and deterrence of the crime. 2) Provide training to your assistants to make them more aware of how much difference the exact way a plea is done can make for those in their cases. We can help with this. 3) Establish an immigration trained attorney as an in house expert or work with the courts to establish an independent expert available to consult on all plea negotiations. 4) Hold at least three town meetings in and around the Fort Bend area to hear the concerns of all those from all immigrant communities over the next nine months. 5) Implement policies to address their concerns. We believe that fair and just prosecution is the best way to engender respect for the rule of law. Where the law is seen as fair to all, it is held in the highest esteem. We ask that you join us in showing that whatever others may do, this county will do its best to make certain that people do not have to live in the shadows or fear the system that is supposed to protect and rehabilitate them. Respectfully yours, Wilvin Carter, President, Fort Bend County Criminal Defense Attorneys Association Patrick F. McCann Law Offices of Patrick F. McCann 700 Louisiana, Ste 3950 Houston, Texas 77002 713-223-3805