By KEVIN CHIRI

Publisher

LAPLACE – Sometimes it is hard to understand why St. John District Attorney John Crum isn’t in a different profession.

The longtime parish D.A. seems to have lived his life so closely associated with the more spiritual side of this world.

His ancestry goes back to some many preachers that were among the founding fathers in our country.

His family growing up was religious. His current family is very Catholic. He enjoys different church experiences.

And perhaps most of all, his 26 years as a district attorney has given him some keen insight into the human nature of man that might send most men into a different line of work.

But through it all, Crum, 59, is a man who seems to have drawn from all those influences, yet remained independent and a free thinker on his own. His vast experience with the criminal element has given him an unusual perspective into the minds of those who commit crimes.

“I have seen the facts behind some horrible cases in my time as D.A.,” Crum said. “And I know first-hand how amazing it is to see the horrible things people can do to other people.”

“We’re all just animals, overlayed with a little bit of spirituality,” he said. “If it wasn’t for the laws, it would undoubtedly lead to more bad people. But thank goodness for the law.”

Crum admits to not being a regular church-goer, but is hardly opposed to religion.

“I enjoy a lot of different church experiences, and my wife is a serious Catholic who has raised our children that way,” he said. “But I guess I’ve been disappointed in some ministersŠnone hereŠbut in years past. I feel like I have a spiritual connection I’m proud of, but I don’t go to church often.”

That may be surprising when you look at the fact that Crum has an ancestry which dates back to Valley Forge in the winter of 1776.

“One of my great, great grandfathers was a chaplin there. Then I had another great, great grandfather who founded the first Methodist church in Santa Monica, California,” he explained. “So I’ve got ministers in my family line.”

And that is one reason Crum believes he has become successful as a lawyer, something he never really planned to do.

“When I got out of college at LSU, I was working for the welfare department even though my degree was in zoology,” he said. “My supervisor told me after a while that I should be a lawyer.”

He sees the connection between lawyers and preachers as a close one.

“Being a lawyer is a lot like being a preacher,” he explained. “Both of us help people with problems, and both have to be good talkers. I think I’ve got that ability.”

Crum was born in Orange, Tx., but moved to Louisiana in the third grade as his father was in the oil business.

“We had a pretty typical home life. I was a good kid and did well in school and athletics,” he said.

He met his wife in high school, dated for a while, then the pair split up as he went off to college. But after college they got back together and ended up marrying in 1972. The couple now has three children, ages 22, 21 and 19.

His wife’s father was state Sen. Harvey Peltier, Jr., and that gave him an opportunity to work with the legislative counsel. That helped him when he graduated from college in 1972 as he worked there, and with a law firm based in Norco.

In 1977 he opened his own office in LaPlace, but then got his opportunity to move into the district attorneys office in St. Charles Parish in 1978 under well known D.A. Harry Morel. When the district split, forming the new St. John 40th Judicial District in 1984, Crum knew he was the man for the job.

“I had worked this area under Harry Morel for so long that I just knew I needed to be the D.A. here,” he said. “And I also ran for it since I felt I needed to be loyal to all the people who had supported Harry.”

He won easily in the election against local attorney Daniel Becnel Jr., taking 62 percent of the vote.

“Most people don’t realize that the biggest part of the district attorney’s job is the administrative side, and that was something I had a lot to learn about,” he noted. “But that’s where Harry’s office helped me so much.”

Even today, funding continues to be the biggest challenge for the department, which runs an annual budget of about three-quarters of a million dollars.

“Volume is our biggest problem, especially with drug cases,” he said. “We don’t have much of any guaranteed money each year, so we may have to go out for a sales tax hike, or a millage of some sort, if we hope to expand the department.”

He understands occasional criticism of long waits for trials, or some criminals who seem to get off with light sentences.

“I think the biggest reason people think that is because they don’t see all the facts we have to work with,” Crum noted. “Generally I think we make sure people get the punishment they should get. I think the majority of people see this department as being fair and reasonable for the most part. I really think that is what most people think of the job we have done here.”

He is quick to agree that the drug problem is the biggest ongoing situation that burdens the court system, and said he is actually not against considering decriminalizing things such as marijuana.

“I don’t think the drug problem will ever get completely ended,” he said. “But if you decriminalize it, then you have a whole new problem of how to manage the sale of it. Still, that is something that perhaps should be considered. However, in China they legalized opium, and now everyone smokes it. It will take some novel approach to ever get a handle on the drug problem in our country.”

Crum said he believes in the death penalty since “some people just can’t be changed. Some are too bad. But sometimes I think it is better to just leave them in jail for life since the cost of giving someone death is so high.”

His next re-election opportunity won’t be here until 2008, but Crum says he already plans to remain in the job.

“I still like it. This job is rewarding, knowing you’re doing good to help people,” he said.