This archive report was first published on 11 June 2020.
On June 11, 2020, a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in favor of Rachael Rollins, the Suffolk County District Attorney, highlighted the challenges faced by progressive prosecutors in implementing reforms.
Rollins' pledge to handle certain low-level crimes less harshly and more in line with national trends was met with an ethical complaint from a police organization, which claimed she was violating rules of professional conduct for lawyers. However, the state agency in charge of disciplining lawyers never opened an investigation, citing the frivolous nature of the complaint.
Rollins has also faced opposition from judges, including a local judge who challenged her discretion to dismiss disorderly conduct charges against a protester. In response, Rollins filed an emergency petition with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled in her favor.
The resistance to progressive prosecutors like Rollins is often motivated by a desire to maintain the status quo, including judges who do not want their legacy questioned, police who do not want their overtime reduced, and towns dependent on a prison economy that do not want mass incarceration to end.
Police unions also play a significant role in undermining progressive prosecutors, as seen in the case of Larry Krasner, who has exposed the efforts of police unions to pressure cities to treat domestic violence cases involving officers with more lenience.
Ultimately, the struggle against progressive prosecutors is often a political one, driven by corporate interests, police and corrections union patronage, and racial politics. The likely cumulative effect of this harassment is to impede the most important reforms and push these prosecutors out of office.
As seen in the case of Aramis Ayala, Florida's first black state attorney, who declined to run for another term after facing similar opposition, it is essential for those who care about reform to vote for progressive prosecutors, sheriffs, and judges in November.
