{"id":32746,"date":"2023-10-10T12:43:34","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T16:43:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=32746"},"modified":"2023-10-10T12:48:44","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T16:48:44","slug":"news21-states-rein-in-powers-of-prosecutors-when-it-comes-to-reproductive-rights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2023\/10\/10\/news21-states-rein-in-powers-of-prosecutors-when-it-comes-to-reproductive-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"News21: States rein in powers of prosecutors when it comes to reproductive rights"},"content":{"rendered":"\"U.S.<\/a>
A crowd rallies at the U.S. Supreme Court on May 3, 2022, in protest of a draft decision to limit the reproductive rights of women. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Abortion debate spurs new efforts to restrict prosecutorial discretion<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, October 10, 2023<\/div>\r\n
By Elise Catrion Gregg<\/div>\r\n
News21<\/div>\r\n
news21.com<\/a><\/div>

<\/P>\r\n MIAMI, Florida — Former Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren never imagined that signing a letter would cost him his job.

<\/P>\r\n Warren joined dozens of elected prosecutors nationwide last summer in condemning the criminalization of abortion post Roe v. Wade<\/EM>. Their public statement<\/a> said, in part, \u201cprosecutors have a responsibility to refrain from using limited criminal legal system resources to criminalize personal medical decisions.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n In response, Gov. Ron DeSantis used an executive order to suspend him<\/a> as state attorney for the 13th Judicial Circuit, covering Hillsborough County \u2013 Florida\u2019s fourth-most populous \u2013 which includes the city of Tampa.

<\/P>\r\n Warren had walked into the latest political fight over abortion in the U.S. \u2013 efforts to deny prosecutors the discretion to decide whether to pursue cases against those who violate state abortion bans.

<\/P>\r\n But such maneuvers don\u2019t stop at abortion, and experts on either end of the political spectrum say these efforts stand to dramatically alter the criminal justice system, where prosecutors normally decide whether to pursue charges based on evidence and the integrity of a case.

<\/P>\r\n \u201cDiscretion is our North Star,\u201d Warren said in an interview with News21. \u201cProsecutorial discretion is at the heart of everything that prosecutors do, from how you allocate resources in the office to where you focus your attention.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n

\"Andrew<\/a><\/div>\r\n
Last year, former Florida State Attorney Andrew Warren joined prosecutors nationwide in condemning the criminalization of abortion post Roe v. Wade. In response, Gov. Ron DeSantis used an executive order to suspend him \u2013 one of several examples of state leaders cracking down on prosecutorial discretion. Photo courtesy of Andrew Warren <\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n A January 2023 report<\/a> from Public Rights Project and Local Solutions Support Center found that four states \u2013 Iowa, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Utah \u2013 had passed a total of five so-called \u201cpreemption laws\u201d to curb the autonomy of prosecutors.

<\/P>\r\n This year, several other states considered bills related to prosecutorial oversight, with new laws taking effect in Texas<\/a> and Georgia<\/a>. The Texas measure sets out procedures for removing prosecutors for refusing to prosecute an offense under state law, while Georgia\u2019s establishes an oversight committee to govern prosecuting attorneys.

<\/P>\r\n Though most of the action has come in states led by Republicans, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, signed an executive order<\/a> on June 23 moving any county prosecutions related to abortion under the purview of the attorney general, who is also a Democrat.

<\/P>\r\n Twelve out of 15 county attorneys in the state called it \u201cusurpation of the rightful decisions of elected prosecutors\u201d in a letter to Hobbs<\/a>.

<\/P>\r\n \u201cA governor came in and, against the explicit will of our state Legislature, attempted to essentially strip me of my authority to prosecute,\u201d Kent Volkmer, attorney for Arizona\u2019s Pinal County, said in an interview. \u201cI’ve been elected twice by my constituents and by the people in Pinal County to use my judgment and use my discernment in prosecuting cases. Essentially the governor said, \u201cYeah, you can\u2019t be trusted.\u2019\u201d

<\/P>\r\n In the Florida case, Warren sued DeSantis in federal court.

<\/P>\r\n \u201cThe governor had alleged I had made some blanket policy that I wasn’t going to prosecute abortion cases, but a court of law determined that was absolutely not true,\u201d Warren said.

<\/P>\r\n \"U.S.<\/a>

Outside the U.S. Supreme Court on July 4, 2022, shortly after the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization restricted the constitutional rights of women. Photo by Victoria Pickering<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle found that<\/a> Warren\u2019s removal violated the Florida Constitution and the First Amendment but said he did not have authority to grant relief. The Florida Supreme Court eventually tossed the case, saying too much time had passed.

<\/P>\r\n The discretion Warren has is a tool that prosecutors have across the board, both at the state and federal levels.

<\/P>\r\n The American Civil Liberties Union calls prosecutors<\/a> \u201cthe most powerful actors in the criminal justice system,\u201d stating that prosecutorial discretion is key to maintaining the criminal justice system, changing practices and implementing reforms.

<\/P>\r\n More recently the phrase has been interpreted negatively and used to accuse prosecutors of shirking responsibilities \u2013 a criticism that\u2019s become more common in the year since the Supreme Court\u2019s Dobbs v. Jackson<\/em> ruling eliminated a federal right to abortion and returned regulation of the procedure to the states.

<\/P>\r\n But reform-minded prosecutors with alternative ideas about dealing with violent crime, drug possession, gender-affirming care and other issues started drawing ire even before that ruling, said David Toscano<\/a>, a former Virginia politician who has written about the impact of Dobbs<\/EM><\/a> on prosecutorial discretion.

<\/P>\r\n Toscano, a former state legislator, said the death of George Floyd was a turning point for the emergence of \u201cprogressive prosecutors<\/a>,\u201d who ran on platforms of not prosecuting certain kinds of crimes and using the criminal justice system as a mechanism for correcting racial injustices. Elected officials who disagreed with these policies moved to intervene.

<\/P>\r\n \u201cLegislators in more conservative areas are trying to inhibit prosecutors in urban, more blue or Democratic areas from making decisions in the criminal justice field to correct errors that may have occurred in the past,\u201d said Toscano, an attorney specializing in family law and real estate.

<\/P>\r\n Then the Dobbs<\/EM> decision dropped.

<\/P>\r\n \u201cIt was like pouring gas on a fire,\u201d Toscano said.

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The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed decades of precedent, with a new conservative majority denying women the constitutional right to an abortion.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\n As new state laws on abortion went into effect, so did measures to keep prosecutors from bowing out of abortion cases.

<\/P>\r\n Georgia\u2019s Senate Bill 92<\/a> creates a Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, \u201cwhich shall have the power to discipline, remove and cause involuntary retirement of appointed or elected district attorneys or solicitors-general.\u201d

<\/P>\r\n The members of that commission are appointed by state leaders, including the governor.

<\/P>\r\n Supporters say the philosophy behind some of these bills is accountability and addressing concerns that prosecutors are crippling the justice system by not enforcing the law.

<\/P>\r\n \u201cI look forward to signing transformative legislation that holds rogue district attorneys accountable when they fail to protect Texans,\u201d Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) tweeted in May 2023<\/a>, just before signing HB 17<\/a>.

<\/P>\r\n Toscano, Warren and Volkmer agree that holding prosecutors responsible for their work is important \u2013 just like in any other job. But they said there is a clear distinction between refusing to prosecute entire classes of crimes and using discretion to be selective about when, if and how to pursue charges.

<\/P>\r\n Volkmer, a Republican, says on his website that he wants \u201ccounty prosecutors to look at each case on its individual merits and seek a penalty that fits each individual crime.\u201d He also favors sentencing alternatives other than prison.

<\/P>\r\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re asking us \u2013 \u2018Will you prosecute this case? Will you not?\u2019 \u2013 if anybody just gives you an answer saying yes or no, we\u2019ve got much bigger issues, because the problem is every case should be evaluated on its own merits,\u201d he said.

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