Around this time last year, as discussed in this post, Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner made public a remarkable five-page memo setting forth an array of remarkable progressive prosecutorial policies. This week, Suffolk County DA has produced an even more remarkable statement of policies via this remarkable 66-page document titled simply "The Rachel Rollins Policy Memo." The document is not easily summarized, and is worth a complete read. These excerpts from the first section, titled "A New Lens," provides a feel for some of the particulars that follow:
A dramatic shift in thinking around criminal justice is occurring in the United States. Sweeping advances in data science and public health have revealed that decades of punitive incarceration are not effectively preventing recidivism and promoting public safety. A large number of criminal convictions secured by prosecutors nationally are for drug, property, and public order offenses, which are often driven by economic, mental health, and social needs....
Data show that a carceral approach to low-level, non-violent offenses can do more harm than good. A criminal record often presents barriers to education, future income, housing, and many other necessary assets and supports proven to help people thrive and succeed in society.
As a result, jurisdictions across the country are taking a smarter approach to punishment and accountability. Law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices are collecting and analyzing new and varied sources of data, and they are safely beginning to move all but the most serious offenses away from carceral punishment and its downstream collateral harms.
In place of traditional criminal justice system outcomes such as arrest, detention, prosecution, probation, and incarceration, criminal justice practitioners and policymakers are working in collaboration with community partners to develop and implement innovative, evidence-driven diversionary alternatives that data show are more likely to promote safer and healthier communities....
[Recent data] shows that the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office can file fewer criminal charges, divert more people who need help into services and treatment, send fewer people to jail and prison, all while improving the health and public safety of Suffolk County residents. I am pleased to announce, effective immediately, the following official guidelines and policies of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. These guidelines and policies, as with all of our office’s policies and decisions going forward, will be grounded in science and data, modeled after the best known local and national practices, and will build upon and expand the important work and relationships begun under the leadership of my predecessors
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