Progressive Prosecution and the Progressive Prosecutor Movement, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology (Henry Pontell ed., 2025)
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Description
A new kind of prosecutor has gained attention across the United States. Instead of running campaigns based on tough-on-crime promises and draconian sentencing, these prosecutors promise to use their power and discretion to enact criminal legal reforms. These new prosecutors believe that the incarceration-led approaches of the past have caused harm rather than solved it. They campaign on reducing mass incarceration, holding police officers accountable, and addressing the disparities in the criminal legal system. Those who support this movement believe that these prosecutors can be the main drivers of reform within the criminal legal system.
These new prosecutors are called “progressive prosecutors,” although there is no widely accepted definition of the term. There is debate within and outside of the legal community about what it means to be a progressive prosecutor. Scholars and activists disagree about whether it is possible for those tasked with charging and incarcerating defendants to be the drivers behind large-scale criminal reforms. Supporters of the progressive prosecutor movement believe not only that prosecutors are the best situated to achieve large-scale criminal reforms but also that they have an obligation to do so, given their role in perpetuating mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal legal system. Prison abolitionists do not believe that prosecutors can enact this change. They argue that progressive prosecutors will only give further legitimacy to a system that perpetuates racism and violence. There is also debate regarding whether the progressive reforms being implemented by these new prosecutors are achieving the goals and results the movement envisioned.
Regardless of the efficacy of their reforms, progressive prosecutors have been targeted by those who do not agree with their reform-oriented approach. Governors have removed prosecutors from their democratically elected positions, legislatures have passed preemption laws, and recall elections have been held. This pushback has resulted in discretion and power being stripped from prosecutors in unprecedented ways. Despite these efforts, progressive prosecutors continue to run successful campaigns across the United States, representing larger populations and more areas than ever before, and attempting to implement reforms to the criminal legal system.
ISBN
9780190264079
Publication Date
2025
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Law
Repository Citation
Sarah Gottlieb, Progressive Prosecution and the Progressive Prosecutor Movement, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology (Henry Pontell ed., 2025),
https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/fac_books/202
