Prosecutors Step into the Spotlight of Justice Reform
Thanks in part to grassroots organizing efforts seeking to reduce mass incarceration, a new conversation around local elected prosecutors emerged in 2017. A small but significant cohort of reform-minded prosecutors was elected or assumed office in jurisdictions around the country, promising to reduce incarceration associated with lower-level charges through the use of diversion and alternative to incarceration programs, reform bail practices that exacerbate pretrial detention, and focus prosecutorial resources on more serious cases in the pursuit of public safety.[]Justin Miller, “The New Reformer DAs,” American Prospect, January 2, 2018; and Henry Gass, “Meet a New Breed of Prosecutor,” Christian Science Monitor, July 17, 2017. These new leaders have also joined forces to form peer and professional networks, such as the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution, and Fair and Just Prosecution, to bolster reform efforts.[]Institute for Innovation in Prosecution; and Fair and Just Prosecution.
In contrast, federal prosecution took a different direction in 2017, largely due to President Trump’s appointment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions to carry out his administration’s “tough on crime” policies. One of Sessions’s first actions was to issue a memorandum directing federal prosecutors to charge the most serious crimes with the most severe penalties, a “War on Drugs”-era tactic that has been responsible, in part, for the rise in incarceration since the 1990s, a rise that largely impacted people of color.[]Memorandum from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to All Federal Prosecutors, “Department Charging and Sentencing Policy,” (Washington, DC: Office of the Attorney General, May 10, 2017); and Drug Policy Alliance, The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race (Washington, DC: Drug Policy Alliance, 2016. The U.S. Attorneys at the helm of the country’s 93 federal prosecution units will be expected to follow this policy—or resign.[]Sari Horwitz, “A Month After Dismissing Federal Prosecutors, Justice Department Does Not Have Any U.S. Attorneys in Place,” Washington Post, April 18, 2017.
Top Things to Know
Facts and Figures
On Our Radar
Discussion
Best of 2017
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Stay Tuned with Preet BhararaPodcast by former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York tackling issues like prosecutorial discretion and race within the criminal justice system.
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Preet BhararaFormer U.S. attorney. Host of Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara.
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Criminal (In)justice with David A. HarrisPodcast exploring full range of criminal justice issues, from police body cameras and racial biases to use-of-force policies. Standout Episode: Attorney Whitney Tymas discusses how local elections can be used to reform prosecutors’ offices.
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Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in AmericaBook on how fees, fines, cash bail and strictly enforced laws affect the poor.
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Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real ReformLaw professor examines data gathered over a decade, arguing that conventional wisdom on mass incarceration misses a number of key factors, such as the simple fact of rising crime through the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, as well as the unconstrained power of prosecutors.
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Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black AmericaA book seeking to understand the role played by African American leaders across the country in supporting the war on crime that began in the 1970s. Many of these policies were supported and even championed by black leaders of the time.
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The War on Kids: How American Juvenile Justice Lost Its WayIdentifies how America went from being a pioneer to an international pariah in its juvenile sentencing practices, chronicling shortcomings of juvenile justice and drawing upon social science, legal decisions, and first-hand correspondence.
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Ezra Klein ShowEzra Klein, founder and editor of Vox, meets with individuals for in-depth discussions. Standout episodes: Ta-Nehisi Coates on blackness, civil rights, and social justice in America; Angela Davis on the power of prosecutors in the criminal justice system.
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Wrongful Conviction with Jason FlomPodcast from Jason Flom featuring interviews with men and women who have spent decades in prison for crimes they did not commit.
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Josie Duffy RiceResearch Director at Fair Punishment Project. Covers criminal justice issues.
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Carimah TownesReporter for The Fair Punishment Project. Covers criminal justice issues.
Contributors
Vera Staff
External Reviewers
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Miriam Aroni Krinsky
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John Pfaff
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Meg Reiss
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Chloe Cockburn