Preface: new directions in prosecutorial reform
Author | Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Justin Murray, and Maybell Romero |
Position | Executive Director of Fair and Just Prosecution/Associate Professor of Law at New York Law School/Associate Professor of Law at Tulane University Law School |
Pages | 1369-1380 |
PREFACE
PREFACE: NEW DIRECTIONS IN PROSECUTORIAL REFORM
Miriam Aroni Krinsky, Justin Murray, and Maybell Romero*
ABSTRACT
This Preface, which introduces the American Criminal Law Review’s
Symposium Issue on Reform-Minded Prosecution, begins by describing the power
that prosecutors hold in the criminal legal system, which has historically gone
unchecked and unquestioned. As mass incarceration, police violence, and wrong-
ful convictions began to permeate the public consciousness, many communities
focused their attention on the critical role of their local elected prosecutor and
elected leaders who promised to do the job differently. Reform-minded prosecu-
tors have enjoyed remarkable electoral successes over the past decade such that
close to twenty percent of the U.S. population now resides in a jurisdiction with a
reform-minded District Attorney (“DA”). The Preface goes on to discuss some of
the groundbreaking accomplishments of these newly elected DAs, including
establishing conviction integrity and sentence review units; ending prosecution
of certain low-level offenses; holding law enforcement accountable; changing
the treatment of young people in the criminal legal system; and more. Despite
these promising initiatives, the Preface concludes with a discussion of the strong
pushback, criticism, and opposition DAs have experienced. The DAs’ use of their
discretion has been a focal point of many attacks and has even led to attempts
at supersession from state-level officials who oppose the reform efforts.
Nevertheless, reform-minded prosecutors continue to advocate for the needs of
their communities and to inspire those who believe in the possibility of a fair and
just criminal legal system.
INTRODUCTION: AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION AT A CRITICAL MOMENT OF
CHANGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1370
I. THE GROWING MOVEMENT TO REFORM CRIMINAL PROSECUTION IN AMERICA 1373
II. CROSSCURRENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1377
* Miriam Aroni Krinsky is the Executive Director of Fair and Just Prosecution. Justin Murray is an Associate
Professor of Law at New York Law School. Maybell Romero is an Associate Professor of Law at Tulane
University Law School. We would like to thank the American Criminal Law Review’s student editors, especially
Editor-in-Chief Victoria Sheber and Senior Symposium Editor Robert Cetrino, for making possible the important
conversations and Articles that came out of this Symposium. Thanks as well to Fair and Just Prosecution’s
Director of Research and Outreach, Monica Fuhrmann, for her invaluable assistance. © 2023, Miriam Aroni
Krinsky, Justin Murray, and Maybell Romero.
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