Prosecutors are the most powerful actors in the criminal legal system.

They decide who to charge with a crime, what crime to charge, whether to ask for bail, what plea offer to make, what evidence to give to the defense, and what sentence to request. They can use their discretion to help end mass incarceration, or they can be a driving force in perpetuating a system that cages more people than anywhere else in the world. But voters have the power to hold them accountable. The vast majority of the more than 2,300 local prosecutors are elected, which allows communities to ensure that their prosecutors actually represent their interests.

Explore our prosecution-related resources below.

Special Report

Unlocking the Black Box of Prosecution

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Resource Site

Motion for Justice

An initiative focused on centering racial equity in prosecution reform

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Event

New Orleans: We've Got the Power

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Despite there being more than 2,300 jurisdictions that elect their prosecutor, more than

50%

of the entire U.S. population lives in only 147 prosecutor districts.^[]Carissa Byrne Hessick. National Study of Prosecutor Elections. Chapel Hill: UNC School of Law, February 2020.
25%

The likelihood that an incumbent prosecutor will face a challenger if they run for reelection.^[]Carissa Byrne Hessick. National Study of Prosecutor Elections. Chapel Hill: UNC School of Law, February 2020.
1%

of elected local head prosecutors across the country are
women of color.^[]Reflective Democracy Campaign, “Justice For All?: A Project by the Reflective Democracy Campaign on Who Prosecutes in America,”

From the Blog

What’s in a Name? A Small Step Prosecutors Can Take to Build a More Humane System

Prosecutors are supposed to dehumanize people charged with crimes. That’s what we’re taught in law school. As my professor instructed, if you’re a prosecutor, always refer to the person accused as “the defendant.” Using “defendant” distances the judge or jury from seeing the accused as a person and makes it easier to pass judgment on them. But if y ...

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Akhi Johnson

July 24, 2020

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How can we change a system set up to control Black people? By radically dismantling it.

The senseless and violent deaths of Black people—like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and David McAtee—at the hands of law enforcement are not isolated incidents. They are examples of an unjust and oppressive system that is weaponized against Black people. Though the just prosecution of officers involved in acts of police brutality is necessary, it h ...

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Jamila Hodge

June 10, 2020

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Governors Should Embrace—Not Hinder—Reform-Minded Prosecutors

Decades of these policies failed our communities and our nation. From 1970 onward, decisions made to sharply increase the use of jail and prison throughout the country—and to impose harsher sentences for many criminal convictions—are now commonly referred to as the era of mass incarceration. Today, nearly 2.3 million people are behind bars. Mass in ...

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