Thread by @CBHessick

I am so incredibly excited to share this new report!

It took more than two years to complete this project, and it was worth every minute.

The data we collected shows that prosecutors can be both a powerful ally and a formidable opponent in the criminal justice reform effort.

https://twitter.com/ppp_unc/status/1400439296998445064

To some extent, this report confirms what experts like @RachelBarkow @shonhopwood have been saying:

Prosecutors use their political clout to lobby for harsher criminal laws.

When a prosecutor says "I'm just following the law," you should wonder "did you help write that law?"

But our study had some unexpected findings as well.

For one thing, prosecutors are much more successful when they support bills than when they oppose them.

Bills they supported were twice as likely to pass; bills they opposed passed at basically the same rate.

To be clear, those figures looked different in different states.
In Arizona, Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania, prosecutors were able to block EVERY SINGLE BILL that they opposed. Not one of those bills passed in the four years we studied.

Even on the national level, prosecutor opposition was more successful for some bills than for others. For bills that decriminalized behavior or created defenses, prosecutor opposition was very successful--only 15% passed when prosecutors opposed them.

https://twitter.com/ppp_unc/status/1400441592981360641?s=20

Perhaps the most important finding is about prosecutor support for reform. Prosecutors were actually most successful when they supported bills that decriminalized conduct or reduced punishment.
It seems like legislatures are willing to listen when prosecutors support reform.

Since criminal justice reform bills are so much more likely to pass when prosecutors support them, that suggests that the new reform-oriented prosecutor associations may change the shape of criminal law in America.
So I'm keeping an eye on @fjp_org @ProsAlliance and #VPPFJ

A few quick words about how this report was possible.
First, the project was inspired by some excellent reporting by @JessPish and @jduffyrice thenation.com/article/archiv…
theappeal.org/prosecutors-ar…

Second, @ppp_unc was lucky enough to get a generous gift from the Charles Koch Foundation.

All of our research projects depend on external, private funding.

Partners like CKF, that are willing to fund objective research, no matter what it find, are indispensable

Third, @ppp_unc didn't undertake this study alone.

@JessPish came on board as a consultant--the absolute best kind, who contributes not only ideas, but also does a lot of the actual work.

@wrightrf guided the content analysis & contributed a small army of RAs from Wake Forest

(Let me add, that if you are considering trying your hand at content analysis, you should definitely read this helpful paper by Ron and his @WakeForest colleague, Mark Hall: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…)

Finally, this report would not have been possible except for the amazing team @ppp_unc
Our staff absolutely killed themselves, working long hours late into the day to make sure the report got finished.
And our @unc_law student research assistants were absolute rockstars.

Finding and coding the data for this project took literally thousands of hours.
Not anyone could do that work--it requires legal knowledge and expertise.
I'm constantly astounded by the intelligence and work ethic of our students--they are the backbone of this and other projects.