Where does the movement to elect reform-minded D.A.s go from here? That’s the question posed by the final episode in our New Thinking series on The Power of Prosecutors. The campaign has scored a series of remarkable victories across the country. As public defender Scott Hechinger suggested in the second episode of the series, the focus on changing individual leadership has been “empowering,” and a key to the movement’s success. But what are the limitations of this focus, and is there a danger of neglecting a push for more systemic change, the kind that will outlast the next election for D.A.?

Somil Trivedi and New Thinking host Matt Watkins
To discuss these questions, New Thinking host Matt Watkins sat down with the ACLU’s Somil Trivedi, a staff attorney at its Trone Center for Justice and Equality and part of its Smart Justice campaign. Trivedi has a unique perspective on the power of prosecutors: he’s one of the few litigators trying to hold rogue prosecutors accountable in court. He explains why so few organizations have the resources to take that kind of work on, given the almost blanket protections prosecutors are afforded by the law.

While the gains of the progressive prosecutor movement have been impressive, Trivedi says no one should be satisfied with what has been achieved to date. “We can't just rely on the good faith of a handful of newly-elected prosecutors,” he argues. “There needs to be a full-on democratic engagement in this question.”