Qualifications: What training, experience and characteristics qualify you for this position?
ISSUES: What are the two (2) most pressing issues that you will face in the office that you seek? Describe your specific plans/ideas for addressing these issues.
Rustin Foroutan
In Law school I participated in the Innocence clinic. I learned the importance of fair justice by talking to people who I believed were actually innocent. I then interned for a local criminal defense attorney (Jim Sims) who taught me the importance of listening and caring for people and encouraged me to be a prosecutor.
I went on to become a prosecutor in Harris County and left as a misdemeanor chief to be a public defender in the mental health unit. I am the only candidate that has experience on both sides. I believe people deserve to be heard, treated with fairness, integrity, and compassion. Justice is about accountability applied fairly without bias.
I went on to become a prosecutor in Harris County and left as a misdemeanor chief to be a public defender in the mental health unit. I am the only candidate that has experience on both sides. I believe people deserve to be heard, treated with fairness, integrity, and compassion. Justice is about accountability applied fairly without bias.
1. I want people to feel like they are heard and treated with dignity and respect. I have been informed by attorney's practicing in Harris that the current Judge often does not waive court costs for the truly indigent and as a public defender that is appalling. My plan is to waive court costs for those who are truly indigent.
2. I will ensure that prosecutors and defense attorneys have adequate time to negotiate and enter into pre-trial intervention (PTI) agreements. Attorneys practicing in Harris County have informed me that the current judge imposes very strict timelines for PTI applications, which can sometimes result in unnecessary convictions on defendants' records. My plan is to give the attorneys time to negotiate PTIs.
2. I will ensure that prosecutors and defense attorneys have adequate time to negotiate and enter into pre-trial intervention (PTI) agreements. Attorneys practicing in Harris County have informed me that the current judge imposes very strict timelines for PTI applications, which can sometimes result in unnecessary convictions on defendants' records. My plan is to give the attorneys time to negotiate PTIs.
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