There are two things I know 100% for sure: prosecutors in America have too much power and they’re measuring the wrong things.
An ongoing project by the NYU Brennan Center outlines why prosecutorial reform is more urgent than ever.
Prosecutors can:
- Choose whether to bring charges
- Select what kind of bail is available
- Dictate what plea-bargains are made available
- Wield influence over a defendant’s sentencing
Prosecutors are Overpowered
When they lean into punitive policies rather than rehabilitation and diversion, they are also deceptively expensive. Under the guise of public safety, it costs taxpayers money, unnecessarily destroys lives, and exacerbate mass incarceration.
There are several financial incentives, creating a system that functions solely because it can perpetuate mass incarceration: fines and fees, correctional bed markets, and enforcement-oriented metrics.
Perhaps one of the most important articles to share out of their project, is one that outlines the myths and realities of prosecutors and criminal reform.
For example, there is a misconception that pro-reform prosecutors see an uptick in crime: this is not at all true.
In fact, the data demonstrates that pro-reform prosecutors experience less crime in their communities, perhaps because they are spending their time improving lives through rehabilitation and diversion, rather than destroying lives with lengthy prison sentences that do not contribute whatsoever to rehabilitation.
As voters and constituents, we must demand that our prosecutors lead with evidence-based policy rather than punitive harm not at all based on science.
Read more of the groundbreaking work done by the Brennan Center here.
There are two things I know 100% for sure: prosecutors in America have too much power and they’re measuring the wrong things.
An ongoing project by the NYU Brennan Center outlines why prosecutorial reform is more urgent than ever.
Prosecutors can:
- Choose whether to bring charges
- Select what kind of bail is available
- Dictate what plea-bargains are made available
- Wield influence over a defendant’s sentencing
Prosecutors are Overpowered
When they lean into punitive policies rather than rehabilitation and diversion, they are also deceptively expensive. Under the guise of public safety, it costs taxpayers money, unnecessarily destroys lives, and exacerbate mass incarceration.
There are several financial incentives, creating a system that functions solely because it can perpetuate mass incarceration: fines and fees, correctional bed markets, and enforcement-oriented metrics.
Perhaps one of the most important articles to share out of their project, is one that outlines the myths and realities of prosecutors and criminal reform.
For example, there is a misconception that pro-reform prosecutors see an uptick in crime: this is not at all true.
In fact, the data demonstrates that pro-reform prosecutors experience less crime in their communities, perhaps because they are spending their time improving lives through rehabilitation and diversion, rather than destroying lives with lengthy prison sentences that do not contribute whatsoever to rehabilitation.
As voters and constituents, we must demand that our prosecutors lead with evidence-based policy rather than punitive harm not at all based on science.
Read more of the groundbreaking work done by the Brennan Center here.
