DA's inaction on police brutality cases, DMN editorial board focuses on human trafficking: Your weekend roundup

December 16,  2018 By Wayne Carter and Carla Solórzano Good morning! Here is a look at the top headlines of the weekend so far. 🌤️ Weather: Partly cloudy and mild, with a high of 64. 🔎 Prefer the online view? It's [here](. Faith Johnson, who was appointed Dallas district attorney by Gov. Greg Abbott in early 2017, will let her successor make the call on two police brutality cases involving Dallas and DeSoto police officers. She says politics played no role in her decision. (Nathan Hunsinger/Staff Photographer) crime and courts [Dallas' departing DA hasn't taken action on two police brutality cases. Is it political?Â]( A year after a grand jury indicted three Dallas police officers in the death of an unarmed, handcuffed man, District Attorney Faith Johnson’s office has yet to prosecute the case. And two months after Johnson watched dashboard video of DeSoto police slamming a mother to the pavement and Tasing her son as he lay on the ground, Johnson hasn’t opened an investigation. Now, [the families at the center of those brutality cases must wait even longer](. Johnson, who lost her re-election bid, has decided to let her successor, John Creuzot, determine the cases’ fate when he becomes Dallas County DA in January. Johnson’s delays have mystified family members, civil rights activists and some law enforcement experts. They question whether Johnson, who nevertheless recently prosecuted Balch Springs police Officer Roy Oliver on murder charges, was playing it safe politically. Johnson declined to be interviewed. She released a short statement saying politics have played no role in her decisions. Law-enforcement experts question Johnson’s approaches. “I hate to say it, but this doesn’t look good,‘’ said former Dallas district attorney Craig Watkins, who earned a national reputation for exposing flawed police work. “You’d think with the tenor of issues involving police officers today that the DA’s office would be at the forefront of making sure the public believes in the system.‘’ Also: [Texas again led the country in executions this year]( with 13 lethal injections — and Dallas County topped the state list. International intrigue: An Austin DWI lawyer charged with scamming Colombian drug traffickers [suspects CIA meddling](. Housing case: An overseer [will be a judge's "eyes and ears"]( at a Far East Dallas apartment complex that was ravaged by fire. Advertisement [ Politics [Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigns amid scrutiny of conduct and real estate dealings]( Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke [submitted his resignation to the White House Saturday](, facing intense pressure amid multiple probes tied to his Montana real estate dealings and conduct while in office. President Donald Trump announced Zinke's exit via Twitter Saturday morning and offered praise for the embattled Interior chief. "Secretary of the Interior @RyanZinke will be leaving the Administration at the end of the year after having served for a period of almost two years," the president tweeted, trailing off in a second sentence. "Ryan has accomplished much during his tenure and I want to thank him for his service to our Nation......." While the former Navy SEAL and Montana congressman worked aggressively to promote Trump's agenda of expanding domestic energy production, administration officials concluded weeks ago that he ranked as the Cabinet member most vulnerable to congressional investigations once Democrats took control of Congress in January. Commentary: Don't let the shouting in the Oval Office [drown out the shouting of the migrant children at the border](, writes Omar Suleiman. Foreign policy: A Russia scholar said on Reddit that Americans are ["dangerously uninformed" on Putin's strategy to sow chaos](. Editorial [The world’s oldest profession meets new thinking]( In the news business, sometimes what someone doesn’t say can be the thing that says it all. That was our thought earlier this year as we sat in the waiting room of a Dallas-based organization that helps women get out of the life of sex trafficking. Across the room from us sat a young woman. She was maybe in her early 20s, but was anything but confident. She wouldn’t make eye contact or engage with anyone, and she even suggested to the receptionist that she might just leave. We actually first noticed her in the parking lot, where she appeared to be working up the courage to walk in the front door. For most people, sex trafficking comes across as a headline and a photo of someone getting arrested. But for those who delve into the issue, it quickly becomes clear that the level of damage done to people who fall into “the life,” as it is euphemistically known, is both horrendous and lasting. It is easier than many people understand for someone to slip onto a pathway to a very dark place, but it’s a long way back. This newspaper has long had areas it emphasized in its opinion coverage. The editorial page’s focus on southern Dallas, for example, held our attention for more than a decade as we sought to improve lives and opportunities there. Southern Dallas and other issues will remain a top priority for us. But now we are adding a new topic as an area of engagement: human trafficking. [Read the full editorial.]( Commentary: How a few Dallas church ladies [became a force against sex trafficking.]( Editorial: [How to help with the fight against sex trafficking](. Advertisement [ (Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer) Photo of the WEEKEND Elton John performs Friday night at American Airlines Center, the first of two Dallas shows on his farewell tour. Before a sold-out throng at American Airlines Center in Dallas, John and his professionally brilliant band of rock veterans offered convincing evidence that regardless of where a journey ends, [one doesn't have to traverse meekly as it dwindles](, writes music critic Kelly Dearmore. EDITORS' PICKS - Home invasion: Three people were arrested in connection with [an armed intrusion in Red Oak](. - Immigration: The father of the 7-year-old Guatemalan girl who died in the custody of U.S. authorities, [disputed that his daughter was malnourished](. - Courts: The Texas judge who approved a plea deal allowing a former Baylor University student accused of rape to avoid jail time [holds three degrees from Baylor](. - Foul called: American Airlines Center has [the third-worst food-safety inspection reports]( among North American sports venues, according to an ESPN report. - Football: Like others this season, Duncanville believed it could dethrone Allen. [Here's how — unlike any other team — they did just that in state semifinals](. Finally... [Hold off on that hot take — here’s why Collin College’s plan for gun-carrying staffers makes sense]( From Metro columnis Sharon Grigsby: Too many folks these days read only the headline before forming their own hot take and lashing out. It goes like this: What is the strongest response I can have after the least charitable evaluation? Nothing ignites that knee-jerk reaction more than a story about guns. The latest example is Collin College’s decision this week to train staff members who volunteer to serve as certified gun-carrying marshals. The school, with six campuses in the northern suburbs, is among the first to take advantage of a 2015 state law that allows community colleges to join public K-12 campuses in setting up marshal programs. The community college is not “arming its teachers,” nor is this plan likely even putting more guns on campus. Another controversial gun-related law passed in 2015 — campus carry — already allows staff, students and teachers to carry concealed handguns into most buildings with far less training. The marshals plan gives Collin College an extra layer of protection. [Read the full column.]( 👋 That's all for this morning! For up-to-the-minute news and analysis, check out [DallasNews.com](. Share the love! If you like this newsletter, please forward this email to a friend and [check out our other newsletters here](. Do you have feedback? Send your thoughts, questions, praise and corrections to [newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com](mailto:newsletter-feedback@dallasnews.com?subject=). 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