In an adverse political environment, experienced professionals are leaving the field—and crime is surging. Thomas Hogan writes:
Prosecutors across the United States are leaving their jobs. In the years since progressive prosecutor Kim Gardner took over as St. Louis Circuit Attorney, turnover in her office exceeded 100 percent: more prosecutors resigned or were fired during this time than were in the entire office when Gardner was elected. In cities, suburban counties, and rural jurisdictions, elected chief prosecutors and line attorneys alike are stepping away from jobs they once loved. This brain drain of experienced prosecutors has gone overlooked but will have dire long-term effects on the administration of justice.
Prosecutors are leaving the profession for several reasons, the first and most obvious being the new wave of progressives sweeping into office. Consider St. Louis, where Gardner has de-prosecuted both felonies and misdemeanors, reduced or eliminated cash bail, lessened sentences for violent offenses, and accused the police and the entire criminal justice system of racism. A violent crime spike followed, and for the prosecutors in the office, morale plummeted. Told that they were part of the problem, the attorneys had their hands tied in trying to prosecute and punish criminals. Not surprisingly, many left for private practice, academia, or retirement. The same trend has played out in Chicago, Philadelphia, and other progressive hot spots.
Politics have also driven many prosecutors out of the ranks. New York’s state legislature continues to pass reforms that impose onerous demands on prosecuting attorneys. A vast expansion of discovery categories that prosecutors must compile for the defense, constantly shifting rules for disclosures about police officers, and tight time frames—15 days from a defendant’s initial appearance—to complete these tasks have reduced prosecutors to harried clerical workers. Combined with the threat of sanctions for non-compliance, these rules are driving out experienced professionals in New York City and upstate. As Onondaga County district attorney Bill Fitzpatrick noted, prosecutors are “going into private practice because they want to be lawyers, they don’t want to be . . . paper pushers.” Forty employees of the Brooklyn district attorney’s office left the ranks in response to these rules.
[Thomas Hogan, "The Prosecutor Exodus,” City Journal, July 9]
