The Paradox of “Progressive Prosecution”
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Sentences of Incarceration Decline Sharply, Public Safety Improves
Sentences of Incarceration Decline Sharply, Public Safety Improves During Kim Foxx’s Second Year in Office New data portal demonstrates benefit of criminal justice reform, transparency A Report from Community Partners by Reclaim Chicago, The People’s Lobby, and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice Release July 2019 INTRODUCTION The People’s Lobby, Reclaim Chicago, and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice have been tracking data on how prosecution is changing in Cook County since Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s first year in office. The People’s Lobby and Reclaim Chicago ran major voter contact operations to support State’s Attorney Foxx’s election on a decarceration platform and pledged to work to ensure that her vision of criminal justice reform happened once she took office. Chicago Appleseed has been advocating for criminal justice reform for decades and has a history of tracking data related to the Cook County court system. This is the fourth report in our series.1 In May 2019, State’s Attorney Foxx’s office took another major step forward in transparency by creating a user-friendly data portal, a dynamic dashboard showing how the office handles felony cases from initiations to sentencing in real time. This data portal helps make the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office one of the most transparent in the country. This report looks at four key metrics in the data that was recently released: number of sentences of incarceration, number of felony charges, number of guilty pleas, and number of cases dropped. We find that the use of prosecutorial discretion in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has led to a decrease in incarceration sentences. -
Translating Movement Into the Role of Independent Political Organizing In
TRANSLATING MOVEMENT INTO POWER The Role of Independent Political Organizing in the Racial Justice Victory Over Anita Alvarez in the Cook County State’s Attorney Race Reclaim Chicago, The People’s Lobby, SOUL (Southsiders Organized for Unity & Liberation), Center for Racial & Gender Equity, and Action Now SECTIONS I. Summary 2 II. Setting the Frame and Defining the Incumbent 3 III. Creating a Bigger, Bolder Contest 7 IV. Conclusions & Questions 15 V. Appendix 18 Translating Movement into Power • 1 I. SUMMARY Chicago community-based independent political organizations played a critical role in the successful campaign to defeat incumbent Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, a staunch opponent of police and criminal justice reform, in the March 2016 Democratic primary. Black-led community organizations set the stage for the contest by publicly defining Alvarez as an opponent of accountability and reform, shaping the lead protagonist (challenger Kim Foxx) into a bold leader, and catapulting Foxx to a landslide victory over Alvarez. SOUL (Southsiders Organized for Unity & Liberation), The People’s Lobby, and Reclaim Chicago in particular led an inside-outside strategy over several years that built toward this historic and game-changing racial justice victory and, together with other allied community organizations, collectively made 310,000 calls/door knocks to contribute to a resounding victory on election night. The defeat of Alvarez and victory of Foxx represents a win for the Movement for Black Lives and signifies a political awakening for racial justice. It also represents a victory for the broader progressive movement, a victory that can teach key lessons about the combined power of high-profile movement activism and independent political organizing (often less visible) that can translate energy and intentions into large-scale electoral engagement and the exercise of community power. -
How and Why Illinois Abolished the Death Penalty
Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality Volume 30 Issue 2 Article 2 December 2012 How and Why Illinois Abolished the Death Penalty Rob Warden Follow this and additional works at: https://lawandinequality.org/ Recommended Citation Rob Warden, How and Why Illinois Abolished the Death Penalty, 30(2) LAW & INEQ. 245 (2012). Available at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/lawineq/vol30/iss2/2 Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality is published by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. 245 How and Why Illinois Abolished the Death Penalty Rob Wardent Introduction The late J. Paul Getty had a formula for becoming wealthy: rise early, work late-and strike oil.' That is also the formula for abolishing the death penalty, or at least it is a formula-the one that worked in Illinois. When Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation ending capital punishment in Illinois on March 9, 2011, he tacitly acknowledged the early rising and late working that preceded the occasion. "Since our experience has shown that there is no way to design a perfect death penalty system, free from the numerous flaws that can lead to wrongful convictions or discriminatory treatment, I have concluded that the proper course of action is to abolish it." 2 The experience to which the governor referred was not something that dropped like a gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath and seeped into his consciousness by osmosis. Rather, a cadre of public defenders, pro bono lawyers, journalists, academics, and assorted activists, devoted tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of hours, over more than three decades, to the abolition movement. -
Formal End to Judeo-Christian America Lambro (25) Clinton, Hillary Will (9) He U.S
At Issue this week... Culture War by Dennis Prager July 8, 2015 2016 Election Formal end to Judeo-Christian America Lambro (25) Clinton, Hillary Will (9) he U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling sex marriage. They have rendered those And therein lies one of the reasons that Confederate Flag on the redefinition of marriage who believe that marriage should remain the notion of obedience to religion is so Buchanan (23) seals the end of America as the a man-woman institution the most vilified loathed by the cultural left. Biblical Juda- Chavez (27) FoundersT envisioned it. group in America today. ism and Christianity repeatedly dismiss Greenberg (20) It is the heart — not the mind, not mil- the heart as a moral guide. Krauthammer (10) From well before 1776 until the second Massie (20) half of the 20th century, the moral values lennia of human experience, nor any secu- Moreover, the war to replace God, Towery (24) of the United States were rooted in the Bi- lar or religious body of wisdom — that has Judeo-Christian values and the Bible as Culture War ble and its God. determined that marriage should no longer moral guides is far from over. What will Bozell (28) Unlike Europe, which defined itself as be defined as the union of a man and a this lead to? Buchanan (3) exclusively Christian, America became the woman. Here are three likely scenarios: Murchison (27) Prager (1) first Judeo-Christian society. The Ameri- 1. Becoming more and more like West- Dear Mark can Founders were Christians — either Dennis ern Europe, which has more or less created Levy (19) theologically or culturally — but they the first godless and religion-less societies Democrats were rooted in the Hebrew Scriptures. -
Bomb Suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Took Responsibility for Marathon Attacks in Note Scrawled in Boat - Metro - the Boston Globe
Sources: Bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev took responsibility for Marathon attacks in note scrawled in boat - Metro - The Boston Globe Subscribe to BostonGlobe.com for only 99¢. Stay up-to-date on breaking news in New England and beyond. SUBSCRIBE LOG IN NEWS MetroMETRO LOTTERY OBITUARIES ARTS BUSINESS GLOBE NORTH GLOBE SOUTH SPORTS OPINION GLOBE WEST DATA DESK NotePOLITICS may offer details LIFESTYLEon bomb motive MAGAZINE INSIDERS E-MAIL FACEBOOK TWITTER GOOGLE+ LINKEDIN 32 TODAY'S PAPER 05/01/2015 on Library Circuit First by Viewed Last By Maria Cramer and Peter Schworm GLOBE STAFF MAY 16, 2013 Just before his capture last month, Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scrawled a note inside the boat where he was hiding that seemed to take responsibility for his role in the attack, according http://www.bostonglobe.com/...-responsibility-for-marathon-attacks-note-scrawled-boat/UhBOmEByeWVxGd1RAxz0tO/story.html[5/1/2015 1:04:27 PM] Sources: Bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev took responsibility for Marathon attacks in note scrawled in boat - Metro - The Boston Globe to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the message. After police forced Tsarnaev out of the boat, trailered at a Watertown residence, they found the handwritten message in which he praised Allah and said he would soon be joining his dead brother, Tamerlan, according to one of the officials. “They found a note that took responsibility,” said the official, who did not provide additional details. The message in the boat appears to match statements Tsarnaev made to authorities after his capture, but seems to provide a clearer picture of his motives. -
Postelectionreport 031516.Pdf
COOK COUNTY CLERK DAVID ORR 69 W. Washington, Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60602 TEL (312) 603-0996 FAX (312) 603-9788 WEB cookcountyclerk.com Dear Friends: The March 15, 2016 Presidential Primary shattered modern-day records going back more than 25 years. The popularity of initiatives such as Online Voter Registration and Election Day Registration, as well as registration and voting for 17-year-olds, proved there is a great desire by voters to take part in the electoral process. This was the first presidential election to include Election Day Registration and voting by 17-year- olds who will be 18-years-old by the General Election – offerings we found to be very popular with suburban Cook County voters. This 2016 Presidential Primary Post-Election Report takes a comprehensive look at the voting totals, trends and statistics during the March primary throughout suburban Cook County. Below is a sample size of the standout primary numbers: • Voting before Election Day – by mail, or during early voting and grace period voting – accounted for 22 percent of all ballots cast in this election. • Early Voting set a new primary record with 113,641 ballots cast in a Presidential Primary. • More than 23,000 suburban Cook County voters took advantage of Election Day Registration. • Nearly 4,400 17-year-olds voted, accounting for 62 percent of the 7,085 who registered to vote. • Donald Trump won 25 of the 30 Suburban Cook County Townships, garnering his best total in Stickney Township, with 62.1 percent of the vote. • Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders were separated by just nine votes in Norwood Park Township (Clinton: 1,859; Sanders: 1,850). -
Critical Race Theory and Power
\\jciprod01\productn\H\HBK\36-1\HBK102.txt unknown Seq: 1 2-JUL-20 7:36 CRITICAL RACE THEORY & POWER: THE CASE FOR PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTION Heather L. Pickerell1 ABSTRACT This note makes the case for why scholars and members of the polity should identify and support genuinely progressive prosecutors. A key Critical Race The- ory tenant—that legislation and favorable judicial decisions are often inadequate avenues to subvert power structures—holds true for criminal justice. Conse- quently, this note urges advocates to accept that legislative bodies and courts are imperfect agents of change and to turn to another powerful actor to seek criminal justice reform—local prosecutors. But critics of progressive prosecutors take is- sue with the contention that prosecutors can be a source of meaningful reform. The most common criticism—that other actors in the justice system render prose- cutors “powerless” to enact genuinely progressive reform—is sustained by real- life examples. This note addresses these criticisms by exploring how local prose- cutors wield both structural and particularized power in the American justice system. Because prosecutors can systematically reduce incarceration and insti- tute more racially just criminal justice policies, advocates should support pro- gressive candidates for district attorney offices. INTRODUCTION Skeptical eyes have watched the growing wave of “progressive” pros- ecutors who have crept into the national conscience since Larry Krasner’s shock victory in the Philadelphia District Attorney Democratic primary grabbed headlines in 2017.2 Kim Foxx of Cook County, Kim Ogg of Hous- ton, and Rachel Rollins of Boston quickly followed Krasner’s wake. Pro- gressive candidates for district attorneys’ offices are now hitting the campaign trail en masse.3 These prosecutors’ recent ascendency is a seis- mic departure from the “law-and-order,”4 “tough-on-crime”5 lawyers who have long-filled America’s district attorney offices. -
Imagining the Progressive Prosecutor
University of Minnesota Law School Scholarship Repository Minnesota Law Review 2021 Imagining the Progressive Prosecutor Benjamin Levin Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Levin, Benjamin, "Imagining the Progressive Prosecutor" (2021). Minnesota Law Review. 3206. https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/mlr/3206 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Minnesota Law School. It has been accepted for inclusion in Minnesota Law Review collection by an authorized administrator of the Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Essay Imagining the Progressive Prosecutor Benjamin Levin† INTRODUCTION In the lead-up to the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, Sen- ator Kamala Harris’s prosecutorial record became a major source of contention.1 Harris—the former San Francisco District Attorney and California Attorney General—received significant support and media attention that characterized her as a “progressive prosecutor.”2 In a moment of increasing public enthusiasm for criminal justice reform, Harris’s rise was frequently framed in terms of her support for a more †Associate Professor, University of Colorado Law School. For helpful comments and conversations, many thanks to Jeff Bellin, Rabea Benhalim, Jenny Braun, Dan Far- bman, Kristelia García, Leigh Goodmark, Aya Gruber, Carissa Byrne Hessick, Sharon Jacobs, Margot Kaminski, Craig Konnoth, Kate Levine, Eric Miller, Justin Murray, Will Ortman, Joan Segal, Scott Skinner-Thompson, Sloan Speck, and Ahmed White. Thanks, as well, to the students in my Advanced Criminal Justice Seminar at Colorado Law School whose deep ambivalence about progressive prosecution helped inspire this Es- say. -
DEEN FREELON CHARLTON D. MCILWAIN MEREDITH D. CLARK About the Authors: Deen Freelon Is an Assistant Professor of Communication at American University
BEYOND THE HASHTAGS DEEN FREELON CHARLTON D. MCILWAIN MEREDITH D. CLARK About the authors: Deen Freelon is an assistant professor of communication at American University. Charlton D. McIlwain is an associate professor of media, culture and communi- cation and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity at New York University. Meredith D. Clark is an assistant professor of digital and print news at the University of North Texas. Please send any questions or comments about this report to Deen Freelon at [email protected]. About the Center For Media & Social Impact: The Center for Media & Social Impact at American University’s School of Communication, based in Washington, D.C., is an innovation lab and research center that creates, studies, and showcases media for social impact. Fo- cusing on independent, documentary, entertainment and public media, the Center bridges boundaries between scholars, producers and communication practitioners across media production, media impact, public policy, and audience engagement. The Center produces resources for the field and academic research; convenes conferences and events; and works collaboratively to understand and design media that matters. www.cmsimpact.org Internal photos: Philip Montgomery Graphic design and layout: openbox9 The authors gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Spencer Foundation, without which this project would not have been possible. We also thank Ryan Blocher, Frank Franco, Cate Jackson, and Sedale McCall for transcribing participant interviews; David Proper and Kate Sheppard for copyediting; and Mitra Arthur, Caty Borum Chattoo, Brigid Maher, and Vincent Terlizzi for assisting with the report’s web presence and PR. The views expressed in this report are the authors’ alone and are not necessarily shared by the Spencer Foundation or the Center for Media and Social Impact. -
Appendices to Illinois Reform Commission 100-Day Report
Appendices to Illinois Reform Commission 100-Day Report April 28, 2009 Table of Contents Page A. Listing of Materials Provided to Commissioners.......................................... A-1 1. Campaign Finance .............................................................................. A-1 2. Procurement ........................................................................................ A-7 3. Enforcement ...................................................................................... A-12 4. Government Structure ...................................................................... A-14 5. Transparency..................................................................................... A-18 6. Inspiring Better Government ........................................................... A-23 7. Additional Materials Considered...................................................... A-28 B. Meeting Minutes............................................................................................ B-1 1. Minutes for Meeting of the Illinois Reform Commission — Thursday, January 22, 2009............................................................... B-1 2. Minutes for Meeting of the Illinois Reform Commission — Thursday, February 5, 2009 ............................................................... B-9 3. Minutes for Meeting of the Illinois Reform Commission — Thursday, February 23, 2009 ........................................................... B-19 4. Minutes for Meeting of the Illinois Reform Commission — Thursday, March 5, 2009 -
In Re: Conflict of Interest of the Office of the Philadelphia District Attorney
Received 12/2/2019 7:25:36 PM Supreme Court Eastern District Filed 12/2/2019 7:25:00 PM Supreme Court Eastern District 125 EM 2019 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA EASTERN DISTRICT 125 EM 2019 IN RE: CONFLICT OF INTEREST OF THE OFFICE OF THE PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY PETITION OF MAUREEN FAULKNER Widow of Deceased Police Officer Daniel Faulkner THE PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S RESPONSE TO THE PETITION FOR KING'S BENCH JURISDICTION Response to the Petition for King's Bench Jurisdiction over the Matter Pend- ing Before the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Wesley Cook, a/k/a Mumia Abu-Jamal, 290 EDA 2019, CP-51-CR-0113571-1982. GRADY GERVINO Assistant District Attorney LAWRENCE J. GOODE Supervisor, Appeals Unit NANCY WINKELMAN Supervisor, Law Division CAROLYN ENGEL TEMIN First Assistant District Attorney LAWRENCE S. KRASNER District Attorney of Philadelphia Three South Penn Square Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 686-5728 [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Table of Authorities iii Counter -Statement of the Case 1 Argument 5 THIS COURT SHOULD DENY THE PETITION FOR KING'S BENCH JURISDICTION. 5 A. King's Bench Jurisdiction is not Appropriate in this Case. 6 B. There are no Grounds for Disqualifying the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office from this Case. 10 1. The Commonwealth Attorneys Act. 10 2. The alleged conflicts of interest. 11 3. The District Attorneys strategic decision to not oppose Defendant Cook's remand request. 24 4. The case law supplied by Mrs. Faulkner's attorneys does not support her claim. 30 5. The allegation of an "appearance of impropriety." 33 6. -
“Progressive” Prosecutors Sabotage the Rule of Law, Raise Crime Rates, and Ignore Victims Charles D
LEGAL MEMORANDUM No. 275 | OCTOBER 29, 2020 EDWIN MEESE III CENTER FOR LEGAL & JUDICIAL STUDIES “Progressive” Prosecutors Sabotage the Rule of Law, Raise Crime Rates, and Ignore Victims Charles D. Stimson and Zack Smith Introduction KEY TAKEAWAYS The American prosecutor occupies a unique role Rogue prosecutors usurp the role of state among lawyers. The prosecutor has a higher duty legislatures, thereby violating the sepa- than other attorneys. His duty is to seek justice, not ration of powers between the executive branch and legislative branch. simply to obtain convictions. As the American Bar Association notes, “The prosecutor should seek to protect the innocent and convict the guilty, consider Rogue prosecutors abuse the role of the the interests of victims and witnesses, and respect the district attorney by refusing to prosecute constitutional and legal rights of all persons, including broad categories of crimes, thereby failing suspects and defendants.”1 to enforce the law faithfully. Prosecutors play a vital and indispensable role in the fair and just administration of criminal law. As mem- bers of the executive branch at the local, state, or federal Violent crime goes up and victims’ rights level, they, like all other members of the executive are ignored in rogue prosecutors’ cities. branch, take an oath to support and defend the Consti- tution and faithfully execute the law as written. They do not make laws. That is the duty of the legislative branch. This paper, in its entirety, can be found at http://report.heritage.org/lm275 The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE | Washington, DC 20002 | (202) 546-4400 | heritage.org Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage Foundation or as an attempt to aid or hinder the passage of any bill before Congress.