{"id":1929,"date":"2023-05-26T16:46:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T20:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/?page_id=1929"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:09:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T15:09:19","slug":"progressive-prosecutors-or-zealous-defenders-from-coast-to-coast","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/in-print\/volume-60-number-4-fall-2023\/progressive-prosecutors-or-zealous-defenders-from-coast-to-coast\/","title":{"rendered":"Progressive Prosecutors or Zealous Defenders, From Coast-to-Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Article challenges the narrative that the progressive prosecutor movement <\/span>can meaningfully transform the criminal legal system and argues that the myopic <\/span>focus on prosecutors as the solution to all that ails this system further diminishes <\/span>the critical, and chronically under-resourced, role of the public defender.<\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n

In presenting this claim, we do not question the sincerity of many self-styled <\/span>progressive prosecutors\u2019 desires to<\/span> \u201c<\/span>make a difference<\/span>\u201d<\/span> in the criminal legal<\/span><\/span> sys<\/span>tem<\/span><\/span> or whether these prosecutors have in fact modified norms and practices<\/span><\/span> posi<\/span>tively<\/span><\/span> in some jurisdictions. But in our view, the record reveals mostly modest <\/span>changes and substantial, multidirectional resistance to anything more. And this <\/span>record should not be a surprise, as prosecutors are executive branch officers <\/span>with a job description primarily of charging and punishing crime in an<\/span><\/span> adversa<\/span>rial<\/span><\/span> system. The progressive prosecutor movement nevertheless has become <\/span>another way for prosecutor offices to expand their mission, deepen their<\/span><\/span> resour<\/span>ces,<\/span><\/span> and accrue power to do<\/span> \u201c<\/span>justice.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n

We emphasize a different path to meaningful change: well-resourced, highly <\/span>functioning public defense systems. We do not claim that public defenders are a <\/span>panacea or a comparable solution to abolition. But we explore how a greater <\/span>commitment to public defense more meaningfully can change the lives of people <\/span>and communities impacted by our criminal legal system by empowering the<\/span><\/span> pro<\/span>fessionals<\/span><\/span> with the role and training, the professional incentives, and the<\/span><\/span> institu<\/span>tional<\/span><\/span> values to pursue material and sustainable change. In our view, truly <\/span>progressive prosecutors would cede more resources and power to the defense <\/span>rather than expand the mission and power of prosecutors.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Article challenges the narrative that the progressive prosecutor movement can meaningfully transform the criminal legal system and argues that the myopic focus on prosecutors as the solution to all that ails this system further diminishes the critical, and chronically under-resourced, role of the public defender. In presenting this claim, we do not question the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9515,"featured_media":0,"parent":1913,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"abstract.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1929","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9515"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1929"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1963,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1929\/revisions\/1963"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/american-criminal-law-review\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}