2 progressive prosecutors resign after ethical scandals

2 progressive prosecutors resign after ethical scandals


Two of the most high-profile progressive prosecutors in the nation resigned last week, marking a significant setback for the criminal justice reform movement.

Kim Gardner of St. Louis and Rachael Rollins of Boston are two Black women at the vanguard of a nationwide initiative to lessen prison sentences, implement restorative justice and hold police departments accountable. Both achieved prominence during the Trump years, when state and city officials were seen by the administration’s opponents as critical backstops to retrograde policies emanating from Washington.

While their resignations were not connected, the two prosecutors’ respective troubles represent the struggles of a movement that appears to have lost some of the public goodwill it previously enjoyed
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Taking cues from fellow progressive district attorneys Larry Krasner of Philadelphia and Kim Foxx of Chicago, Rollins said she would no longer prosecute certain crimes, including shoplifting and larceny involving goods valued at less than $250.

One local publication called Rollins “Boston’s greatest hope to bring the criminal justice system into the wide, woke 21st century.”

In mid-2021, President Biden nominated Rollins to serve as the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. Again, she would be the first Black woman in that role. The nomination received high praise from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Ed Markey, both Democrats, who called her a “national leader on transforming the criminal justice system.”

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