Corrections_Today_Fall_2024_Vol.86_No.3

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their authority for ill, standing as barriers between our clients and justice.” (p. 77). Their authority and power largely stem from legislation providing them with overlapping charges to deal with one single incident, Supreme Court sanctioning their wide discretion, an iniquitous bail system that encourages plea bargains, etc. While states vary in their felon disenfranchisement laws (life-time ban, only after completion of correctional supervision, etc.), Contributor Kira Lerner’s article is intriguing because it focuses on the restoration of voting rights for all incarcerated residents in Washington, D.C., joining Maine and Vermont as the only other places in the nation to vote while in prison. The concept of the progressive prosecutor is an emerging movement to bring back some power balance to the judicial system, according to several contributors. Largely elected from urban counties, the emerging progressive prosecutor movement emphasizes less punishment rhetoric: rarely seek death penalty, prosecute certain drug offenses, etc. A revealing internal policy memo to prosecutors from the nation’s most well-known progressive prosecutor, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, is reproduced in the book: consideration of cost to taxpayers when requesting a sentence, increase more re-entry program participation, charge lower gradations, etc. Contributor John Pfaff believes the public defenders are in the best position to monitor these progressive prosecutors to ensure they carry out their campaigned positions. The less certifications of juveniles as adult for prosecution, not to

editors also discuss the challenges progressive prosecutors face, such as circumventing/overriding their authority by other actors in the system (state attorney generals, etc.), campaigned opposition from police unions, etc. Less policing Contributing writers Beckett, Stuart and Bell (all Sociology Professors) write that there needs to be a “broader cultural shift valuing the expertise of people who are not police officers” (p. 45). Most of the contributors echo this theme of less police agency involvement: more local organizations working in the community (either in tandem with or instead of the police); non armed civilians addressing mental health police calls; traffic violations monitored by technology and unarmed traffic monitors rather than police since many police civilian fatalities started with a routine police traffic, as Contributor Sara Leo mentioned. Contributor Jill Leovy urged a reverse “Broken Windows” approach, where there should be more policing on serious and violent crimes but less on the “quality of life” crimes that disproportionately occupy police time. Contributors discussed the negative impact the current model of aggressive policing has on minorities communities, such as pretextual traffic stops and pedestrian stop-and-frisks. Reform vs. abolish Most of the contributors proposed reforming the system,

such as more funding for the “unpopular” and resourced-drained public defenders and providing them some measure of protection like an “inspector general model.” Dashka Slater urges a paradigm shift in American prisons to the more humane Norwegian model: “The Norwegian principal of ‘dynamic security’ posits that warm relationships between inmates and staff reduce the potential for violence” (p. 340). Additional contributors on reforms measures include revised judicial training for judges to deal with discretion, impact of trauma and poverty and more community engagement from the bench; or support for the re-instatement of Pell Grants in prison to provide education opportunities for the incarcerated. However, several contributors do not believe the system can be reformed and proffered more provocative and radical ideas. Contributor Derecka Purnell, for instance, believe “Reforms make police polite managers of inequality” (p. 8) by keeping the haves from the have-nots and abolition of the police will make society examine the root causes of crime and alternative forms of accountability, such as restorative and transformational justice. Contributor Angela Y. Davis uses a Marxist analysis in explaining the origin and expansion of prison (tied to corporate involvement in construction, provision of goods and services, etc.) and subscribes to its abolition as it is an obsolete mode of punishment. Similarly, Contributor Paul Butler uses a fascinating critical legal studies

Corrections Today | Fall 2024

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