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Pro-reform prosecutors are rarer than hens' teeth. It's like being a decent person and then becoming a police officer. The rot is institutionalized and it is ve

Pro-reform prosecutors are rarer than hens' teeth. It's like being a decent person and then becoming a police officer. The rot is institutionalized and it is very hard to avoid being changed once you're inside the system. The criminal justice system has taken some reasonable reforms in the last decade (e.g. Illinois' removal of cash bail), but all of these reforms have come from outside pressure groups, not an internal moment of realization. There is no incentive for prosecutors to improve. A 2003 report by the Center for Public Integrity examined over 11,400 allegations of prosecutorial misconduct between 1970 and 2003, leading to dismissals in 2,012 cases. Despite this, only 44 prosecutors faced disciplinary action, with seven cases dismissed, and none were disbarred. Only one prosecutor in US history that I'm aware of has ever been criminally convicted for misconduct. The attorney disciplinary board in Illinois informed me they will no longer even accept complaints of misconduct against prosecutors, only defense attorneys.

baggy_trough 2y ago
> Pro-reform prosecutors are rarer than hens' teeth. We are lucky that they are so, because progressive reformers in the prosecutor's office have unleashed unparalleled destruction. See, for example, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco or Pamela Price in Oakland.
- inferiorhuman 2y ago
  See, for example, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco or Pamela Price in Oakland. Both of whom went after police misconduct and were eventually ousted in recall campaigns funded by those same police officers. There's a reason that the main group behind the Boudin recall was based in Novato, and it's not because San Francisco annexed parts of Marin County. Let's not forget either that SFPD staged a soft strike until Boudin was recalled — for instance the cops that stood by and watched as a marijuana dispensary was robbed in 2021. It's more than a bit disingenuous to suggest that the police aren't responsible for their own inaction. OPD's tried similar behavior, but they've been under federal receivership for a few decades now so that's expected. Boudin's successor, Brooke Jenkins, famously had her initial transition meetings run by Breed's staffers. That's pretty much the opposite of stamping out corruption.
  - freejazz 2y ago
    Not surprised that this is getting downvoted, though I am disappointed especially given the OP's use of the phrase "unparalleled destruction" which seems beyond hyperbole.
    - inferiorhuman 2y ago
      I suspect it's that a lot of the HN users who are drawn to stories about San Francisco are in fact quite young and/or new to town. We've had progressive district attorneys before. We've had law and order mayors and progressive mayors. I wouldn't use the word progressive but we've had police chiefs that were more reform oriented. And we've survived just fine. Folks got up in arms over Boudin trying to get his father out of jail but largely remained mum on Breed twisting arms (including Jenkins') to get her brother out of jail. Price got pilloried for only pursuing a maximum sentence of a hundred odd years in a murder trial. There's a lot of selective outrage, and yeah it's frustrating (but not surprising on HN).
      - freejazz 2y ago
        I'm in NYC and it's not dissimilar here. Constant friction between the police and anybody who wants any reform, in any position of gov't (judicial, legislative or executive) and completely over-the-top rhetoric about how the city is in shambles or is being destroyed, in a way that is incredibly divorced from reality. I think these kinds of posters are probably new to the city and young, but also probably don't engage with culture much, and seem to spend a lot of time on social media.
cyberax 2y ago
> Pro-reform prosecutors are rarer than hens' teeth. King County (containing Seattle) would like a word with you. Our local non-prosecutor managed to get our crime going up and up, even while the national crime rates are going down.

baggy_trough 2y ago

> Pro-reform prosecutors are rarer than hens' teeth. We are lucky that they are so, because progressive reformers in the prosecutor's office have unleashed unparalleled destruction. See, for example, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco or Pamela Price in Oakland.

inferiorhuman 2y ago
See, for example, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco or Pamela Price in Oakland. Both of whom went after police misconduct and were eventually ousted in recall campaigns funded by those same police officers. There's a reason that the main group behind the Boudin recall was based in Novato, and it's not because San Francisco annexed parts of Marin County. Let's not forget either that SFPD staged a soft strike until Boudin was recalled — for instance the cops that stood by and watched as a marijuana dispensary was robbed in 2021. It's more than a bit disingenuous to suggest that the police aren't responsible for their own inaction. OPD's tried similar behavior, but they've been under federal receivership for a few decades now so that's expected. Boudin's successor, Brooke Jenkins, famously had her initial transition meetings run by Breed's staffers. That's pretty much the opposite of stamping out corruption.
- freejazz 2y ago
  Not surprised that this is getting downvoted, though I am disappointed especially given the OP's use of the phrase "unparalleled destruction" which seems beyond hyperbole.
  - inferiorhuman 2y ago
    I suspect it's that a lot of the HN users who are drawn to stories about San Francisco are in fact quite young and/or new to town. We've had progressive district attorneys before. We've had law and order mayors and progressive mayors. I wouldn't use the word progressive but we've had police chiefs that were more reform oriented. And we've survived just fine. Folks got up in arms over Boudin trying to get his father out of jail but largely remained mum on Breed twisting arms (including Jenkins') to get her brother out of jail. Price got pilloried for only pursuing a maximum sentence of a hundred odd years in a murder trial. There's a lot of selective outrage, and yeah it's frustrating (but not surprising on HN).
    - freejazz 2y ago
      I'm in NYC and it's not dissimilar here. Constant friction between the police and anybody who wants any reform, in any position of gov't (judicial, legislative or executive) and completely over-the-top rhetoric about how the city is in shambles or is being destroyed, in a way that is incredibly divorced from reality. I think these kinds of posters are probably new to the city and young, but also probably don't engage with culture much, and seem to spend a lot of time on social media.

cyberax 2y ago

> Pro-reform prosecutors are rarer than hens' teeth. King County (containing Seattle) would like a word with you. Our local non-prosecutor managed to get our crime going up and up, even while the national crime rates are going down.