Reformers Push for Progressive Judges
Criminal justice groups are seeking out progressive judges who will challenge the unsuccessful, but popular, tough-on-crime approach of those on the bench. They've achieved some notable successes.
Landwebs
Criminal justice reformers in a small collection of cities around the country are organizing to get reform-minded judges elected to local benches, setting in motion a movement to “flip the bench” in favor of more progressive judges, reports Politico. The movement to flip the bench offers an alternative forward path for reform — albeit one that most challenges the left’s conventional view of elected judges as instruments of tough-on-crime policies.
The vast majority of counties around the country utilize tough-on-crime messaging to dominate judicial races, and voters remain largely in the dark about the function and responsibilities of their local magistrates. However, the movement has shown some early signs of success, with five criminal justice reform groups endorsing a slate of eight candidates running in the Democratic primary in 2021 for spots on the court of common pleas in Allegheny County, the county in western Pennsylvania that includes Pittsburgh. In the May primary election, five of the coalition’s candidates won. In neighboring Philadelphia, the criminal justice reform group Reclaim Philadelphia put forward its own slate of eight candidates for their county’s court of common pleas, seven of whom won. Changing voters’ ingrained indifference toward judicial elections requires regular and sustained engagement, not just election-year canvassing — a difficult task for even the most organized local activist groups.
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