Showing posts with label First African American District Attorney in Mecklenburg County North Carolina. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First African American District Attorney in Mecklenburg County North Carolina. Show all posts

Thursday, January 03, 2019

First African American District Attorney in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina is sworn in

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina has a new District Attorney.

Spencer Merriweather was sworn in Wednesday along with about 80 Assistant District Attorneys. Merriweather is Mecklenburg County’s first elected African American District Attorney. He won the election in November.

The Democratic ran unopposed. In this historic election Merriweather wants to have impact on a judicial system that some often find hard to trust.

"You cannot come from the type of legacy that I come from," Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather said. "You cannot live the type of life I believe I lived in this world and not take issue of justice and fairness and safety extremely seriously."

Merriweather shared his priorities after getting sworn in. He wants to take a look at the bail system.

He doesn’t want violent suspects to be released from jail because they have money in their account.

The DA also wants to help create a Family Justice Center. The hope is the center would be a one stop shop for victims of sexual or domestic violence.

Merriweather says the center would provide all the resources a victim needs. City and county leaders are discussing how to make the Center a reality. The DA says safety and fairness cannot be an afterthought.

[SOURCE: WBTV]