District Attorneys and prosecutors are the most powerful people in the entire criminal justice system. (No lie.)

Really, prosecutors could single-handedly change the trajectory of the system. The best thing is that District Attorneys are usually elected officials. That means that you can vote for reform-minded prosecutors. That's a very tangible way that anyone can reform the criminal justice system.

In this video, get Jay’s insights on why prosecutors have so much power.

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JWA exists to educate people about the criminal justice system and how to reform it.

We also provide advanced marketing guidance for organizations reforming the criminal justice system and decarcerating the US.

NEED GUIDANCE FOR YOUR MOVEMENT, OR KNOW AN ORG THAT DOES? Get ahold of us: hello@jaywaustin.com

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As you know, the U.S. is the most incarcerated country on the planet. So we ought to ask who is the most powerful person in the system?

And you might think that police, judges, or jurors have the most power in the criminal justice system. That makes sense. But it's actually the prosecutor who holds the keys. Here are three reasons why prosecutors are so powerful.

First, prosecutors are the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system. While police officers decide whether to arrest somebody or not. And while judges and juries decide how long the sentences are sometimes and what their punishment would be, the prosecutor has a very important decision. They decide whether to charge this person with a crime or not. The reality is that most prosecutors decide to charge people with a crime.

Next, prosecutors are often the people who decide who will need bail and who won't. Now, bail is an old system that was theoretically designed to make sure that you show up on your assigned court date. You pay the bail, you get out of jail, and they give it back to you when you show up to court. But the reality is that if you can't pay bail, then you stay in jail. That's why the cash bail system has trapped so many poor people behind bars.

Last, our court system is way overwhelmed. And in an attempt to relieve the number of cases that go to trial--trials that are expensive in time and money--prosecutors and district attorneys have been given almost complete authority to issue plea bargains and plea deals. Did you know that 9 out of 10 cases never even go to trial? This sounds like a good thing, right? It could be. But the truth is that many people who never actually committed the crime are accepting plea bargains and accepting a guilty verdict for something they never even did.

But here's the good news.

Prosecutors can almost single handedly change the system. Today. Just by changing the way that they keep score, from track and the number of convictions to building empathy, understanding, restoration, and hunting for the actual truth.

What do you think about our current system? What needs to change? Let me know in the comments below.

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Website: www.jaywaustin.com

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