Scholarship@WashULaw
Document Type
Book Section
Publication Date
2023
Publication Title
The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing
Abstract
After decades of relative inattention to prosecutorial elections, academics and activists recently have focused on “progressive prosecutors” as a promising avenue for criminal justice reform. That said, the growing literature on progressive prosecutors reflects little clarity about what makes a prosecutor “progressive.” Recent campaigns suggest disparate visions of how to operationalize “progressive prosecution.” In this chapter, I describe four ideal types of progressive prosecutor: (1) the progressive who prosecutes, (2) the proceduralist prosecutor, (3) the prosecutorial progressive, and (4) the anti-carceral prosecutor. Looking to sentencing policy as a case study, I examine how these different ideal types illustrate different visions of criminal justice reform.
Keywords
Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Reform, Sentencing, Prosecutors, Progressive Prosecutors, Abolition, Legal Theory
Publication Citation
Benjamin Levin, “Progressive” Prosecutors and “Proper” Punishments, in The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing (Ryan King & Michael Light eds., forthcoming 2023)
Repository Citation
Levin, Benjamin, "“Progressive” Prosecutors and “Proper” Punishments" (2023). Scholarship@WashULaw. 394.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_scholarship/394
Included in
Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons
Comments
forthcoming 2023