Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology
Publication Date
Fall 2020
ISSN
0091-4169
Page Number
707
Keywords
prosecution, criminal justice, public safety
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Law | Rule of Law
Abstract
This Symposium comes at a critical juncture for America's prosecutors. One important question-"Is there room for a new kind of prosecutor?"- has already been answered. Self-styled "progressive prosecutors" are flourishing in jurisdictions across the country. The question remains whether the progressive prosecutor movement will have a lasting impact and, if so, what that impact will be. One way this question will be answered is through the movement's influence on the many prosecutors who are open to reform but unlikely to adopt the "progressive" label or accompanying rhetoric. This Essay explores this theme by discussing, first, the rise of progressive prosecution and, second, how this movement's initial success can stimulate the long-overdue development of a generally applicable, normative theory of the prosecutor's role. It suggests a conceptualization of the American prosecutor as a caretaker for the criminal justice system, who should default to lenience when that system becomes so congested and punitive that it cannot deliver on its constitutional ideals.
Recommended Citation
Jeffrey Bellin,
Expanding the Reach of Progressive Prosecution, 110 Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology. 707
(2020)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1661