By Andre J. Thomas
Special to The Times
Danny Carr, candidate for Jefferson County District Attorney, held his first campaign event earlier this month since announcing his plans to run for the elected office.
Carr spoke both from a personal and professional perspective to a crowd of supporters at the Harbert Center.
The Birmingham lawyer said he plans to run an honest campaign that puts the best interest of citizens and transparency over politics. He talked about how it felt to be passed over when Governor Kay Ivey appointed Mike Anderton to fill the position of Jefferson County District Attorney after the elected D.A., Charles Todd Henderson, was found guilty of perjury and removed from the position.
Carr said that as an African American male, for the first time in his life, he sat in a room where he felt qualified for a position, but wasn’t given a fair chance because he was a Democrat.
Carr also spoke of his personal experiences. As a person who was affected by violent crime, Carr said that individuals should be held accountable and punished for their wrongdoings. His younger brother was murdered in 2001.
“I feel that no child should experience the excruciating pain that I felt seeing my mother bury her son,” he said. “Through my misfortune, I realized that our government had a responsibility to provide just punishment to those who commit crimes. As I got older, I further understood that the true merits of our legal system were based on how the laws were interpreted to make our communities better and safer for all people.”
However, Carr added that the legal system shared the responsibility with the community to reduce the recidivism rates so that ex-offenders can potentially become productive members. He added the importance of reducing the school-to-prison plague that affects many impoverished communities across Jefferson County.
Those in attendance included WYDE Radio Personality Joe Lockett, Pastor Dr. Tommy Lewis of Bethel Baptist Church, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Birmingham City Councilors Sheila Tyson and Lashunda Scales and former Birmingham Mayors Richard Arrington and William Bell.
