about why District Attorneys are widely considered the most powerful people in the criminal justice system and how we can best fight for justice.As a law professor studying criminal sentencing, it became clear that what happens at sentencing is really limited by decisions prosecutors make about charging and bargaining earlier on.
We’re stuck, though, if the only way to hold prosecutors accountable is to vote them out of office—they often run unopposed and stay in office for years, or even decades. Do you think we’re seeing more candidates coming forward to challenge incumbents as awareness of the power of prosecutorial discretion rises?It is hard to say if we are seeing more contestation because we actually don’t have much information about prosecutor elections.
While the trend is steady, in terms of number of contested races, we found that races in areas with more people saw more contestation. These races appear to be getting more media coverage: People who live in urban areas are more likely to see their DA on the news. I would like to study media coverage of district attorneys next. New York Times
CBHessick Cool forum for a profile!