"Blue Wave" Hits Local Prosecutors
City Journal Audio
Manhattan Institute
4.7 • 657 Ratings
🗓️ 27 March 2019
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rafael Mangual joins Seth Barron to discuss the disturbing leftward trend among urban prosecutors in major cities and the consequences of undoing the crime-fighting revolution of the 1990s.
In recent years, cities like Philadelphia and Chicago have elected district attorneys dedicated to the principles of social-justice and the goal of "dismantling mass incarceration." The shift away from proactive law enforcement has opened a rift between police and local prosecutors and points to more trouble ahead for many cities.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the Ten Blocks podcast. This is Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal. |
| 0:05.6 | Coming up on the show today, City Journal's Seth Barron joins Manhattan Institute fellow |
| 0:10.2 | Ralph Mangwell to talk about the disturbing leftward shift among urban prosecutors across the country. |
| 0:17.1 | Over the last five years or so, cities from New York to Philadelphia to Chicago have elected |
| 0:21.9 | a new generation of prosecutors, prosecutors that are dedicated to reducing punishment for crime, |
| 0:29.4 | increasing oversight on police, and dismantling mass incarceration, among other policy goals |
| 0:36.3 | generally ranged under the social justice cause. If you want a recent |
| 0:40.6 | example of the widening rift between big city police departments and local prosecutors, |
| 0:45.9 | earlier this week Chicago's newly elected state's attorney announced her office would drop |
| 0:51.0 | all charges against Jussie Smollett, the actor accused of staging his own |
| 0:55.8 | hate crime assault, which led to a weeks-long investigation by police in addition to a media |
| 1:01.9 | frenzy. After the announcement, Mayor Rahm Emanuel stood with police superintendent Eddie |
| 1:08.5 | Johnson and denounce the decision. |
| 1:13.2 | But regardless of that particular case, |
| 1:17.7 | the consequences for our nation cities of this shift among prosecutors could mean a lot of trouble ahead. |
| 1:20.8 | That's it for me. |
| 1:21.8 | The conversation with Seth and Ralph begins after this. |
| 1:39.3 | Hi, everyone. Welcome back to 10 Blocks, the official podcast of City Journal. |
| 1:42.3 | This is your host for today, Seth Barron, Associate Editor at City Journal. |
| 1:48.3 | Rafael Mangual is Deputy Director of Legal Policy at the Manhattan Institute and a fellow. |
| 1:54.2 | His latest piece for City Journal is called Justice for Whom. Left-leaning urban prosecutors are working to undo the success of the crime-fighting |
| 2:04.7 | revolution. Thanks for joining us, Ralph. |
... |
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