Crime Spike Threatens to Politically Squash Prosecutors Efforts to Reform

An OpEd: State prosecutors focused on progress face tough on crime narratives that threaten their reelection.

Criminal justice reform dominated the national discussion the past few years. In May 2020, when Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, the criminal justice reform movement gained national attention. Floyd’s murder was another example of wrongful killings of unarmed Black men and women at the hands of police. His death was an awakening for White America, but it was a reality Black Americans have experienced for decades. His murder highlighted how race impacts how a person is treated by the justice system from arrest to sentencing…