My oped attacks the false narrative on progressive prosecutors.
In CA, Kern County had the highest per capita homicide rate —double SF, despite being the same population size. The Republican DA has blasted reforms like reducing sentencing enhancements.”
sfgate.com/politics-op-ed…
Schubert’s anti-reform approach does not promote safety; Sacramento has seen a dramatic increase in crime. Just last month, a mass shooting in Sacramento took 6 lives. Nonetheless, Schubert has falsely blamed progressive prosecutors throughout California for upticks in crime.
Nationally, one of the largest homicide increases occurred in Fort Worth, Texas — where its tough-on-crime prosecutor attacked judges for setting bail she deemed too low.
Memphis, Tennessee, has one of the highest murder rates in the country, despite its DA’s punitive approach that includes prosecuting kids as adults. Indeed, murder rates have been 40% higher in Republican-run states.
This is true beyond homicides; California jurisdictions with some of the harshest prosecutors — like Riverside — have the highest crime rates. And violent crime in California is worse in conservative jurisdictions.
But only progressive prosecutors are made to answer for crime rates; I have yet to learn of a traditional prosecutor attacked for crime increases (take Oakland, where homicide rates have ballooned — crime reports there rarely name, let alone blame, the longstanding DA).
The truth is that progressive reforms have not negatively impacted crime rates; an examination of 35 jurisdictions found that reforms did not increase crime.
To achieve long-term safety, progressive prosecutors recognize that government must invest in housing, education and treatment to prevent the poverty, desperation and illness that often lead to crime.
Rather than blaming progressive prosecutors for national trends — or giving oxygen to the false narrative that they’ve caused increased crime — we must have the honest, tough conversations about what it will take to reduce crime.
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