Cook County State’s Attorney Office Candidate’s Platform Is Safety And Justice
Attorney Clayton Harris III is running for Cook County State’s Attorney. Photo provided by Clayton Harris III.
Clayton Harris III is running for Cook County State’s Attorney. He running on a platform of safety and justice. Harris grew up in a house with discipline and respect for authority, and that is how he raises his two sons. Service, steadfastness and sacrifice has been drilled into him from his parents.
Harris’ wife Trena believes that everyone has a purpose and the race for Cook County State’s Attorney is her husband’s purpose. She believes he is the right person for the position and that he is what the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office needs.
Harris worked as a research analyst at the Pentagon and graduated from Howard University School of Law. He was sparked to attend law school because of the Rodney King Trial and the acquittal of the officers involved and the O.J. Simpson Trial. Harris wanted to follow in the footsteps of two of his heroes: Thurgood Marshall and Vernon Jordan. Harris describes his time at Howard Law School as the best time of his life.
“We were in Washington, D.C., I was at Howard, I was in the middle of legal scholars talking about the law and its application to us and how the application of the law to us applied to everyone else and how sometimes we have to show that this application of the law benefits everyone else,” he said.
Harris was recruited by former State’s Attorney Richard Devine’s Office because they needed more attorneys of color in the office. After graduation, he was offered a job as a Prosecutor and he accepted. He started working with criminal appeals then moved to Special Prosecutions: Narcotics. He worked on the City of Chicago’s intergovernmental affairs team.
Harris also teaches Public Policy at the University of Chicago and teaches Policing Race in America: Black, White & Blue. He has been a lecturer there for 15 years.
Harris believes that the criminal justice reforms that have been developed in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office have been nationally replicated and they need to be continued. He also believes it is necessary to address the problems that are creating the crimes that are happening in the community. It is also necessary to talk about the safety aspect and what is happening there. He added, “you can be safe and just at the same time.” He wants people to look at the issue and the problem that creates the crime.
“That’s why arresting our way out of this is never going to work and we’ve already seen that. We have to hold everyone accountable for their actions. I have zero problem with that. I have zero problem with the mission of the office, I love the mission of the office, this is why I want to go back,” he said, adding that some people need opportunities to do more.
Harris’s goal is to be a social engineer, who utilizes the law for the betterment of the community at large while making sure the people who do not have resources are not lost along the way.
For more information about Clayton Harris III, visit www.claytonharrisforcook.com.
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