Dale Cox Decides Not to Run for Caddo DA

Interim Caddo District Attorney Dale Cox's recent comments on the death penalty have apparently caused him to reconsider running for election this fall.

Cox said in an April story in The Times of Shreveport that the death penalty should be used more often.

"It has come to the place in our society where it is used less often and I think crime in our society has expanded so expeditiously … that we’re going the wrong way with the death penalty that we need it more than ever and we’re using it less now," he said in the article. "I’m a believer that the death penalty serves society’s interest in revenge. I know it’s a hard word to say and people run from it but I don’t run from it because I think there is a very strong societal interest as a people. I think (revenge) is the only reason for it."

Cox said those comments stirred up quite a lot of controversy, and left residents with the perception that his position is racially-motivated.

"Both the local media and the national media have leveled harsh personal criticism of me as an evil racist because of my position on the death penalty," Cox said in an emailed statement. "These attacks have been personal, savage, false and slanderous. These attacks are more and more directed at the office, not just me."

The demands of the job were another factor Cox said he considered before making his decision.