Two Georgia progressive district attorneys, champions of criminal justice reform, face tough re-election battles amid accusations of mismanagement and letting violent criminals go free.
Georgia’s progressive prosecutors are about to face a big test in the next elections. Shalena Cook Jones and Deborah Gonzalez, who are big on fixing the criminal justice system, are up against some tough political challenges.
They got elected and promised to focus on helping people change and giving shorter sentences to those who haven’t hurt anyone.
But now, some Democrats and Republicans are saying they’re making things worse by creating messy offices and letting dangerous criminals walk free.
This pushback is happening across the country as conservatives are fighting back against these forward-thinking prosecutors.
Critics are pointing out that Jones and Gonzalez have a lot of staff leaving and not many people are being convicted, but Jones and Gonzalez say this is just a smear tactic.
They believe their changes, like programs that help people avoid jail and clean up their records, are important steps towards a fairer and better justice system.
They argue that the criticism is unfair because it ignores the past of being too harsh on people of color.
The criticism gets even louder because these prosecutors are expected to do more than their predecessors, and any slip-ups are blown out of proportion.
So as on final slap in the face to the people in Los Angeles before he is thrown out on his ear, George Gascon is going to let many criminals out on the streets, including the Menendez Brothers. Vote Nathan Hochman for DA. @NathanHochmanDA pic.twitter.com/xIwjON7rg8
— thecolonel1215 (@thecolonel1215) October 4, 2024
Things are especially tricky for Gonzalez in Athens-Clarke County, where even people who supported her before are now backing her opponent, showing just how deep the issues with her office are.
Both Gonzalez and Cook Jones have talked about the problems of not having enough staff and too many cases to deal with because of the pandemic.
However, some former employees say that the staff leaving was because of disagreements over policies and issues with how the office was run.
Even with all the problems, including legal issues for Gonzalez about talking to victims and an ethics complaint for Cook Jones about campaign paperwork, both prosecutors say they’re still all about justice and working with the police.
Cook Jones’ recent big case against a former cop shows she’s all in on making sure people are held accountable, even if it means making tough calls.
In the end, the election will show if people want change or if they’re more worried about how the office is run and how many people are being convicted.
This vote could really tell us where criminal justice is headed in a key battleground state.