Statement in response to Deputy AG Jeffrey Rosen’s speech at Wake Forest

As I said after AG Barr’s August speech, better to be a “social justice” prosecutor than a social injustice one.  And, if being a “social justice” prosecutor means being committed to the fair administration of justice -- for all, not just those who have power, influence, and money -- then I am extremely proud of the title.

It is stunning to me that the second in command of the Department of Justice, while addressing a room full of law students no less, would so grossly misapprehend the role of the prosecutor. Let’s be clear, the District Attorney’s duty is to pursue justice and promote community safety with “due regard to the constitutional and other rights of the defendant.” Smith v. Commonwealth, 331 Mass. 585, 591 (1954). As early as 1935, the United States Supreme Court made clear that a prosecutor is a minister of justice, “the representative not of an ordinary party to a controversy, but of a sovereignty whose obligation to govern impartially is as compelling as its obligation to govern at all; and whose interest, therefore, in a criminal prosecution is not that it shall win a case, but that justice shall be done.”

Fittingly, the United States Supreme Court used those words to describe not just any prosecutor, but the United States Attorney. It seems that now, more than ever, our Department of Justice needs to be reminded of that mandate. As a proud former Assistant United States Attorney, I am deeply disappointed by the Deputy AG’s statements.

While there is much wrong with Deputy AG Rosen’s speech, what we can and do agree on is the need to reduce serious violent crime. We just see different ways to accomplish that. Project Safe Neighborhoods, which he touts, is a good example of federal, state and local agencies working together to come up with locally-based solutions. It was actually modeled on Boston’s approach to dealing with gun violence. I am bringing data-driven innovation, creativity and flexibility to the role of prosecutor – exactly in the mold of PSN – yet Deputy AG Rosen is now suddenly concerned?

What works about PSN is it seeks to innovate on a local level. It is creative and flexible. It is this innovation that has made Boston an exemplar for targeted crime fighting which keeps communities safe and healthy. And this is exactly the approach that I am bringing to Suffolk County; we now focus on the root cause of crime, not just the symptoms. The “broken windows’’ theory of crime fighting is an anecdotal, fact-free approach perpetuated by an old guard in law enforcement. The old guard uses fear to justify actions that, rather than increasing public safety, often end up creating and reifying divisions in our communities. Some, however, are changing. Even former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Sunday apologized for his long-time support of “stop and frisk.” Crime-fighting approaches like that are not the answer: “Broken windows” is, and has always been, broken. I am committed to bringing evidence-based and community-focused solutions to this job.

I have not seen any persuasive data supporting the theory that longer sentences reduce crime; to the contrary, the evidence shows that more draconian sentences likely create crime and indisputably devastate low-income and Black and Brown communities. The issues that I speak of are larger than any one jurisdiction. Mass incarceration is not just a set of local, state, or national policy choices; it is a style of politics that prosecutors like me are seeking to disrupt. Unsurprisingly, the old guard and their powerful political allies, like Deputy AG Rosen, are fighting back to preserve the decades-old structures of power and privilege that overwhelmingly benefit them. I say, no more.

Onward,

Rachael Rollins