Student activists pushing for police-free schools in Syracuse, New York, are backing Twiggy Billue, a candidate in the June 22 primary who wants to follow school districts across the country that have cut ties with cops.
Virginia’s primaries on Tuesday saw Ramin Fatehi clinch the Democratic nomination for Commonwealth Attorney in Norfolk, the site of a major showdown over reform in 2019. He is unchallenged in November.
From a historic DA race to judge candidates against mass incarceration, these elections could reshape the criminal legal system.
A ballot initiative in Allegheny County would limit how long incarcerated people can be held in isolation. Allegations of abuse in the local jail led activists to push for the reform.
Larry Krasner ended an era of tough-on-crime policies in the DA’s office and sparked a nationwide movement. Now voters will decide whether to continue on this path.
Activists are backing judge candidates in Philadelphia’s May 18 primary who want to reduce the use of cash bail, avoid long sentences, and bolster tenant protections.
Grassroots groups are backing a slate of judge candidates in the May 18 primary. If elected, they could curb bail, high sentences, and other drivers of mass incarceration.
If Proposition B passes, police would no longer have the upper hand at the bargaining table. Advocates say union contracts have allowed police brutality to go unpunished.
Eliza Orlins, who is running in the June 22 primary, lays out how she would overhaul the “prosecutorial-industrial complex.”
Racial justice protests rocked the city last year. Activists see next week’s mayoral race as a chance to take a new path.
Dan Quart makes the case for addressing the “systemic breakdown” in New York’s prisons and jails with shorter sentences, ending cash bail, and other reforms.
The population of people under supervision dropped during Krasner’s first term, but his opponent in the May primary wants to roll back his changes.
Instead of expanding the “arrest, prosecute, and incarcerate model,” advocates want the next mayor to address the root causes of violence.
After 30 jail deaths in 16 years, the sheriff election in Erie County, New York, could force a reckoning.
The measure may pave the way for more sheriff candidates who want to challenge mass incarceration, but are currently banned from running.
The new DA of Athens wants to bring down Georgia’s sky-high probation rate. She also announced an end to marijuana prosecutions and the death penalty.
Years of grassroots organizing helped overhaul the criminal legal systems in Cincinnati and Columbus this November. Activists are already looking ahead.
Now these organizers are tackling the January runoffs for the U.S. Senate.
Two more anti-death penalty DAs were elected last week, and the new Los Angeles DA confirmed he would review past sentences.
In Prince George’s County, Maryland, a push to remove armed police from schools could hinge on the outcome of local school board races.