While it may have been overshadowed nationally by healthcare and immigration, criminal justice was easily one of the most important issues on the ballot in 2018. From Colorado to Florida to Louisiana to Michigan to Washington, voters across the nation supported progressive criminal justice reform ballot measures by wide margins. Progressive criminal justice platforms won elections in gubernatorial, attorney general, state legislative, judicial, and district attorney races key to implementing reform. One of the greatest electoral victories for progressive criminal justice reform advocates was that of Rachael Rollins, who became District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts with over 70% of the vote.

Now the top prosecutor for almost 800,000 people in Boston and its neighboring areas, District Attorney Rollins ran a grassroots campaign focused on racial justice, ending mass incarceration, and the decriminalization of poverty, mental illness, and substance use disorder. She opposes mandatory minimums and cash bail, very much in line with Larry Krasner, the Black Lives Matter attorney elected Philadelphia District Attorney in 2017.

Listen to the podcast at: https://millennialpolitics.co/rachael-rollins-podcast/