Early in her professional career, Douglas County District Attorney Dalia Racine knew she wanted to be a prosecutor.
It was after an internship with the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office that she realized she wanted to have more of a say in the decision-making process of the criminal justice system.
That, coupled with her experience of being the victim of child sexual abuse and not feeling like someone was advocating for her, is what led Racine to develop a passion for working with victims of crimes against women and children. And, along the way, she carved out a niche for seeking justice in human trafficking cases.
Too often, those victims are neglected and misunderstood, she said, so having her own experience drove her to create a specific approach for prosecuting those cases. She was supported by DAs who empowered her to follow that ambition, leading her to launch the human sex trafficking unit in DeKalb County and becoming a nationally recognized expert who trained law enforcement on how to successfully prosecute those cases.
She said that’s why having women in leadership positions, especially in male-dominated fields, is so important. They bring a different perspective to the job. But finding success and respect is something she had to work hard for — harder than her male counterparts, she said.
When Racine began her career as a prosecutor, judges told her the women were expected to wear skirt suits. That was in the early- to mid-2000s, and the industry has come a long way since then, she said. But for women, there was — and in some cases still is — a “lack of validation of what you do; it’s more put upon you about your appearances than the actual content of the work that you’re doing.”
Racine, 43, became the first female DA in Douglas County’s history when she took over in late 2020.
To her, Women’s History Month is a time to recognize “the shoulders of the giants that I’ve stood on to be where I am today.”
“I know that there are plenty more women in leadership who had to endure a much more rigorous and much more difficult journey than I ever will have to,” she said. “It can often get lost in the messaging, lost in what we are told and what we are taught, that there are so many women who have been trailblazers way before I ever had an opportunity to sit in this seat ... So I think it’s an important reminder for us every now and again to just be tapped on like, ‘Hey. Remember, there are women who did this before you.’”
Following in her father’s and grandfather’s footsteps, Racine pursued a career in law enforcement despite initially having reservations.
Her mother also was in the same field, working as a legal assistant. During her swearing-in ceremony, Racine recounted a memory her mother told her.
“At a young age my mom told me that … I would argue with her about every point known to man. She would maintain her sanity by praying that one day my powers would be used for good instead of just driving her crazy,” she said with a chuckle.
Racine studied advertising at the University of Florida and loved it, but during her senior year she decided she wanted to do something else. She gave law school a try and was accepted into Emory University School of Law.
Throughout her career, most of her work had been for male district attorneys. It wasn’t until Sherry Boston took over DeKalb’s top prosecutor seat in 2017 that Racine worked for a female DA.
“Dalia is a tenacious and fearless prosecutor,” Boston said. “She is passionate about fighting for the most vulnerable, oftentimes forgotten victims of crime, and I’m grateful for her partnership and leadership in starting the first human trafficking unit in the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. She was a valued member of my team, and I’m proud she is using her talents to serve the greater good and her community in elected office.”
Having the ability to gain colleagues’ respect and showing competency in one’s work goes a long way, Racine said. Once that respect is established, it’s easy to work in law enforcement as a woman, she added.
“I know that my reputation, my credibility, is the first thing that walks through the door, so I have worked extremely hard to make sure that is first and foremost strong and solid and pointed in the right direction,” she said. “Being a woman in this industry, I absolutely have had to outwork everybody around me — I always say, you know, there’s gonna always be people smarter than me. In fact, I want to surround myself with people that are smarter than me, but I will always try to be the hardest worker in the room for that very reason.”
Racine still wears skirt suits. But now it’s not an expectation.
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