When Satana Deberry was first elected to be Durham’s district attorney in 2018, she made a series of promises to the people of Durham about how she would run her office. She has kept those promises and, in doing so, has become an outstanding district attorney.
She pledged to prioritize violent crime prosecution, especially gun-related crime and repeat violent offenders, and she has done just that, devoting the bulk of her prosecutors’ time to cases of violence. She promised to improve Durham’s murder clearance rate, and the clearance rate for homicides in Durham has risen to almost 90 percent in 2025, far higher than the 62 percent clearance rate nationally.
She said she would make the courts welcoming and safe for immigrants and non-English speakers, and she has, including making it clear that Durham’s residents cannot be arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a judicial warrant…