Progressive Prosecutors Navigate Wary Cops, Anxious Communities

Progressive district attorneys swept into office in Democrats’ 2020 wave marked a break from law and order predecessors who campaigned on conviction numbers and the length of sentences won.

Bolstered by widespread outcry over racial policing policies, the newly installed prosecutors vowed to shrink the criminal justice system. Six months in, the district and state attorneys must navigate a tightrope between supporters impatient to see changes they have demanded for years and police unions willing to point to any crime spike as proof that progressive approaches to violence are destined to fail.

Proving alternatives to harsh sentences and strict policing can improve communities is the first step toward building a progressive alternative for candidates touting their law and order credentials.

“The network supporting each other is important. The public messaging and not letting others frame the narrative is also important,” said Alvin Bragg, who just won the Democratic primary to be Manhattan’s top prosecutor. “We’ve got to educate the public and talk to the public about what we’re doing and how it’s working in a broader notion of public safety and tying fairness to public safety. And I’ve been so encouraged by conversations going on around the borough, at least, these last two years.”

Bragg’s network includes progressive prosecutors like Kimberly Foxx in Chicago, Rachael Rollins in Boston, George Gascón in Los Angeles County, Larry Krasner in Philadelphia, and Eric Gonzalez in Brooklyn who all won races while promising to rectifying longstanding disparities in policing.

Fewer Jails, Better Results

The crux of progressive district attorneys’ message is that harsh jail times don’t always deter crime or address underlying community conditions that give rise to violent offenders.

In Los Angeles, Gascón wants to bring together local police, public health officials, and community leaders to decrease street violence and improve public safety through his Community Violence Reduction (CRV) program.

“What we know today is that violence is much like another public health issue, so we’re trying to use public health models to address violence, understanding that there will always be arrests and prosecutions and incarceration, but that should not be the default approach,” Gascón said.

In addition to prosecuting violent crime, the initiative, which was previously known as the Hardcore Gang Division, combines victim services and public health measures to stave off street violence. Gascón said the goal is to expand the program outside of Los Angeles to the rest of the county by the end of 2021.

Prosecutors like Foxx in Cook County, Ill., also plan to tackle mass incarceration, fighting for reduced sentences for those who have already spent time in prison.

“One of the things that we found under this past era of mass incarceration is that people were getting these extraordinarily long sentences, that in today’s world, would never be given out, she said. “But people had no recourse by which to have those sentences changed.”

Illinois lawmakers sent Gov. JB Pritzker (D) a revamped sentencing bill June 25 that would allow Foxx’s office to petition for new sentences where a long jail term “no longer advances the interests of justice,” according to the bill text.

While advocates for revamping the criminal justice system are encouraged by a new wave of prosecutors talking about alternatives to traditional policing, they demand more than lofty words.

“If you’re going in and you’re trying your hardest, but you’re not getting results, maybe there’s a point where that’s not enough,” said Nicole Zayas Fortier, policy counsel in the American Civil Liberties Union’s justice division. “People want people out of the system now. They want the system to be smaller. They want to spend less taxpayer dollars on it. They want to really make sure that their prosecutor is living up to their values.”

Bucking the Blue

So far the biggest pushback to the progressive prosecutors comes from the police. Unions representing police officers have mobilized against district and state attorneys pushing changes, backing challenges and demanding recall votes in some instances.

Gascón is already fending off a recall push led by former Los Angeles city council member Dennis Zine and co-chaired by former Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley (R).

Organizers have to get signatures from at least 10% of registered voters in Los Angeles County—around 580,000—by October to proceed. Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva was one of the first to sign the recall petition.

Gascón “disregarded the rule of law and weakened lawful sentencing requirements for the most violent criminals, including murderers, armed robbers and rapists,” according to recall organizers.

Incarceration has become big business, and those interests will fight against all efforts to lessen prison sentences or divert eligible offenders, Gascón aid.

“You have to track it to money—both financial and political benefits—that are lost,” he said. “You have the bail industry, you have the private prison industry, you have police unions. These are all industries that have benefited greatly by the enhanced criminalization ... and now, they feel that some of their base is being lost. So, they’re resorting to fear mongering, and quite frankly, often just lying to the public.”

Krasner in Philadelphia also had to fight off police opposition during his re-election bid in May. Police unions accused the prosecutor’s policies of driving a spike in crime.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the National Fraternal Order of Police, which is the world’s largest police union, said prosecutors have an obligation to prosecute existing laws. If they don’t like those laws, they can lobby legislatures to change them rather than finding ways around them, Pasco said. The union accuses prosecutor like Krasner of endangering officers on the street by fostering a culture that disrespects police.

“It’s growing incrementally and the safety of the American people, unfortunately, is going to suffer if this trend grows,” he said.

According to the FBI, violent crimes like rape and robberies declined between 2018 and 2018 though aggravated assaults rose by 1.3%.

Krasner didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Race and Reelection

Some of the prosecutors were buoyed by racial justice movements spurred by the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor who were killed by police. For Black prosecutors, redefining American policing through the lens of race can’t be ignored.

Bragg said he faced racial challenges early on.

“The people saying it would not describe it as so, but certainly allusions to race that point to that old playbook—yeah I’ve seen it,” Bragg said.

“But, along with racial undertones, I’ve had all types of pushback that I’ve seen on Twitter. I’ve seen it reported. I’ve seen it on the campaign trail. I’ve seen it from certain groups in the city who were sort of trying to suggest that my policy means that all the fields will be empty, and everything will run amok. But, that’s part of the playbook that I understand from talking to people around the country.”

Chicago’s Foxx, the first Black woman to helm the second largest prosecutor’s office in the nation, said being an “unapologetic Black woman” brought challenges that even other progressive prosecutors didn’t face.

“Most elected prosecutors are largely male and largely white, so running as a Black woman was a challenge. There are roughly 2,400 elected prosecutors in the country, so in essence, I was running for this job like a unicorn,” Foxx said.

Another Black woman, Rollins, the district attorney in Suffolk County, Mass., which includes Boston, dealt with pushback from her own colleagues and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) from the time of her inauguration.

“While my governor is very bright, he is not a lawyer, and neither is his secretary of Executive Office of Public Safety. But had no problem telling me, a lawyer with multiple law degrees, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rollins said.

“That type of thing just doesn’t happen to white men.”