Race, Reform, and Recalls: The Movements for and against “Progressive” Prosecutors

Abstract

In the United States, prosecutors are locally elected and enjoy significant discretion at the front-end of the criminal legal system, including over charges, bail recommendations, and plea deals. Advocates for criminal legal reform have increasingly focused on the power of the prosecutor as a potential instrument of reform. The term “progressive prosecutor” is used to refer to those who are elected on campaign pledges to combat mass incarceration and its racial disparities while pursuing accountability for system harm and police violence. Progressive prosecutors have been elected in growing numbers since 2016, a timeframe scholars tie to Black Lives Matter (BLM). Existing research examines individual progressive prosecutor offices and their aggregate effects. This study marks the first known empirical investigation of the movements for and against progressive prosecutors. Through a novel prosecutor database, media data, and campaign finance archives, I analyze the actors, strategies, and goals in the contest over the power of prosecutors and their potential to advance reform. The findings indicate that although progressives made gains at the ballot box and contributed to reform, their efforts have been stifled by highly organized and well-funded countermovements. I argue that these attacks on progressive prosecutors constitute novel movement repertoires – including extra-electoral challenges to remove elected officials from office or constrain their power outside of regularly scheduled elections – to thwart racial justice efforts following BLM. I show how these countermovements employ the language of law, order, and public safety reminiscent of earlier backlashes against racial justice in the United States, including following Reconstruction and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. I also suggest that campaigns against progressive prosecutors provide templates for future efforts to oust officials with whom right-wing politicians and donors disagree. In this way, the movements for and against progressive prosecutors shed light not only on the potential and limits of current criminal legal reform efforts, but also on our contemporary era defined by racialized polarization and democratic contraction.