Cardozo Law Review
Abstract
Prosecutors are the most powerful officials in the criminal legal system. They decide whether to bring criminal charges and what those criminal charges should be. These decisions are totally within their discretion. The U.S. Supreme Court has consistently protected the power and discretion of prosecutors in making these decisions, and legal challenges to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion have been largely unsuccessful. In recent years, a growing number of individuals have successfully run for chief prosecutor on platforms of reducing the prison and jail populations, consistent with public safety. They pledged to use their power and discretion to implement policies and practices to achieve this goal, including diverting criminal cases out of the criminal legal system, creating programs that establish alternatives to incarceration, and declining the prosecution of low-level offenses. The election of progressive prosecutors has provoked unprecedented attacks from officials in all three branches of government. This Article discusses judicial, legislative, and executive efforts to restrict or remove the power and discretion of progressive prosecutors and how these efforts pose a threat to democracy.
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Law | Law and Politics
Recommended Citation
Angela J. Davis,
Undermining Discretion: The Selective Attacks on Progressive Prosecutors,
47
Cardozo L. Rev.
579
(2026).
Available at:
https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/clr/vol47/iss2/20