The Institute for Innovation in Prosecution 2024 Summer Newsletter
The IIP has been busy engaging on a range of nationally impactful issues, including protecting prosecutorial discretion, providing guidance on ensuring police oversight and accountability, educating prosecutors on how to support immigrant communities, advancing reproductive justice, and so much more.
In the midst of a challenging national landscape, the IIP is committed to supporting prosecutors nationwide in their work to advance evidence-based policies. Our vision for educating and empowering prosecutors to implement sustainable, data-driven reforms is as clear as ever.
Here’s just a taste of how we’ve put that vision into action over the past year:
Expanding the Role of State Attorneys General in Police Oversight and Accountability
This spring, the IIP released a collection of four publications guiding state attorneys general on the role they can play in police accountability and oversight. Collectively, our reports form the first comprehensive survey of the role that state attorneys general can play in today’s police accountability space. We have compiled best practices and key recommendations for pattern or practice investigations, creating and enforcing police accountability mechanisms, prosecuting police misconduct, and grounding police accountability in community engagement.
The publication series is the product of the IIP’s State Attorneys General Police Oversight and Accountability Network, a first-of-its-kind, nonpartisan collaboration involving over 15 attorneys general offices from across the country.
Learn more about our project and hear from some of our leading network participants—including attorneys general and policing experts from around the country—in our video below:
Over the course of three convenings, our network positioned attorneys general to assume leading roles in the police accountability arena and provided them with the tools and support to develop, strengthen or launch their office’s work in this space. We look forward to continuing to support attorneys general and local prosecutors in police accountability work.
Pursuing Justice for Immigrants
In April, the IIP convened elected prosecutors, defense attorneys, and advocates to learn and discuss how prosecutors can pursue justice for immigrants. The convening included extensive education on “crimmigration”—the intersection of criminal and immigration law—as well as sessions focused on how prosecutors can better serve immigrant victims of crime. Immigration experts and front-line practitioners led sessions on improving prosecutorial policies and practices in cases with immigration consequences and generating strategies for prosecutors to ensure that all communities have access to the protections of the legal system regardless of immigration status.
Policy Pilot Programs
Following the convening, the IIP has partnered with several prosecutors’ offices to guide and support the implementation of new immigration policy directives and programs. These pilot programs will support prosecutors in developing innovative solutions to serving immigrant communities and promoting public safety.
Stay tuned for a forthcoming immigration policy guide including key insights from our convening and critical perspectives from experts in the field that will equip prosecutors to promote safety and justice for immigrant communities.
Protecting Prosecutorial Independence
In the past two years, there have been unprecedented, dangerous efforts to restrict prosecutorial independence and undermine prosecutorial discretion. We have seen state legislators attempt to limit prosecutors’ decision-making authority, undermine their power, and even remove local prosecutors from office altogether. These efforts threaten local democracy as they disempower local communities who elected their local prosecutors to pursue specific approaches that best serve their needs.
The IIP has been actively leading the effort to protect prosecutorial independence. The IIP has filed two amicus briefs in Fulton County, Georgia superior court in support of lawsuits initiated by Georgia prosecutors to protect prosecutorial independence and the rights of local prosecutors to implement approaches supported by their communities. The IIP’s most recent amicus brief was filed in support of a bipartisan lawsuit challenging SB 322, which established the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifying Commission and imbued it with the power to sanction or remove locally-elected prosecutors. The IIP’s first amicus brief supported Georgia prosecutors challenging an earlier version of the law, SB 92, which was rendered moot by a Georgia Supreme Court ruling.
In addition, IIP’s Executive Director Rachel Marshall has published multiple op-eds championing prosecutorial independence as a vital facet of local democracy, and cautioning against recent attacks.
The IIP has also hosted numerous webinars, featuring panelists like District Attorney Sherry Boston–the lead plaintiff in the Georgia litigation–and elected State Attorney Monique Worrell, who was suspended by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The IIP is steadfast in preserving the constitutional rights of locally-elected prosecutors to make independent decisions in accordance with the needs of the communities that elected them.
ABA Task Force for Prosecutorial Independence
In February, the Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association announced the creation of the Task Force for Prosecutorial Independence to preserve and strengthen prosecutorial independence and enhance the American public’s understanding of the prosecutor’s critical role in maintaining the integrity of the criminal justice system. The IIP’s Executive Director Rachel Marshall serves as a member of the Task Force, which has been leading the national effort to educate the public about the role of the prosecutor and preserve prosecutorial independence. The Task Force is comprised of esteemed criminal justice experts, and is chaired by Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, Professor Ellen Yaroshefsky, and Professor Ellen Podgor. The Task Force is also advised by an impressive advisory board, including former United States Attorneys General Loretta Lynch and Alberto Gonzales, among others.
Demystifying Reproductive Healthcare
On the two year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the IIP published a guide providing prosecutors with a primer on key concepts in reproductive healthcare. Since Dobbs, fourteen states have imposed total abortion bans and many others have enacted new restrictions on healthcare access. As states continue to enforce new restrictions on reproductive healthcare, the legal landscape has become increasingly complex, forcing prosecutors to navigate the murky intersection of criminal justice and reproductive health.
Our guide is focused on correcting common myths and misconceptions and was based on extensive consultations with medical experts, reproductive healthcare providers, and experts in reproductive justice work. It is designed to help prosecutors understand the ways in which reproductive healthcare may be relevant for their work and equip them to respond based on facts and medical guidance.
Read our full guide educating prosecutors on reproductive healthcare here.
Monthly Webinar Series
The IIP maintains our commitment to supporting a wide range of prosecutors nationwide and addressing some of the most pressing public safety issues of our time. For the past year, we have been hosting monthly webinars featuring leading prosecutors, criminal justice experts, and community leaders to discuss critical issues relevant to prosecutors.
Recent topics include: Police oversight and accountability, the power of prosecutorial data in reducing racial disparities, dismantling pretextual stops, understanding barriers to prosecuting sexual assault in the wake of the reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s convictions reversal, and implementing innovative diversion strategies.
Watch all of our webinars at www.prosecution.org/webinars and be sure to sign up at www.prosecution.org to ensure you don’t miss future events.
Future Work
The IIP hit the ground running in 2024 with several major projects addressing pressing national issues. We are gearing up for future initiatives on juvenile justice, prosecutorial independence, the intersection of mental illness and criminal justice, and opportunities to improve collaboration between prosecutors and local elected officials.
Be sure to stay tuned as we continue to drive the movement for community driven, evidence-based prosecutorial approaches in the second half of 2024 and beyond.