Our next district attorneys can advance justice by declining to prosecute
By Maria Cahill
Maria Cahill is a volunteer organizer for Pacific Northwest Family Circle, which co-initiated Oregon DA for the People, a campaign to reduce the harms of the criminal legal system by calling on district attorneys to adopt their community-led platform.
Most people don’t know that the most powerful person in our criminal legal system isn’t a judge. It isn’t even the police chief. It’s the district attorney or DA. They are more powerful than any local elected official, even mayors.
Elected by voters, DAs decide who to charge with crimes—and who not to charge. They decide which crimes to charge, what sentences to recommend, and whether and when to offer plea deals. They decide when to send someone to treatment or diversion programs instead of prison. That’s a lot of power.
Christopher Kalonji was a Black 19-year-old who was profiled and beaten by Portland police, leading to a court date. Before that day, teachers, friends, and family knew Christopher to be a kind and thoughtful teen with no mental health conditions. After the beating, though, he became more and more anxious.
By his court date on Jan 28, 2016, Christopher was in a mental health crisis. He called 911 for help. Clackamas County Sheriffs came to his home where no one was in danger until they arrived. Instead of getting Christopher the mental health care he needed, they shot and killed him.
The DA should never have charged Christopher Kalonji with a crime.
Multnomah DA Rod Underhill could have declined to prosecute the case against Christopher because of racial profiling. He had that power. If he had used it, on that fatal day, Christopher would've been safe at home, mounting his own lawsuit against Portland police for excessive force instead of being killed by Clackamas Sheriffs.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
On the first day of public service in this elected office, DAs can decline to prosecute many unjust charges that currently criminalize Black, Brown, and indigenous people, immigrants, people living on low incomes, and people with mental health conditions. In The End of Policing, Alex S. Vitale writes that people who need mental health care “in jails and prisons outnumber those in state hospitals ten to one.”
DAs can use their vast power to support community needs for health and safety. For example, when community members need mental health support, police are the wrong response. Having a mental health crisis is not a crime, and people with urgent health care needs should not be brutalized or funneled into jails and prisons.
DAs can help keep people safe by keeping them out of the criminal legal system altogether. When district attorneys decline to prosecute unjust charges, they send a message to police reducing harm right away. With fewer cases to prosecute, DAs can support shifting some of their budgets to more effective mental health response systems, like the CAHOOTS model in Eugene.
In the past, Oregon communities have measured the success of district attorneys by how many people they imprison. Most people prefer public money is spent in a more cost-effective and caring way, like providing mental health care.
Too often, the DA does not answer to the people. Most DA elections in Oregon have only one candidate, so voters don’t have a choice in who they elect or re-elect. Others are hand-picked by the Governor. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, DAs can’t be punished if they commit a crime while working cases (1,2), even if they knowingly hide evidence that proves a person is innocent.(3) That’s not fair, and it doesn’t keep us safe.
Oregon DA for the People is a growing coalition, organized by and for people most impacted by the criminal legal system. We demand transparency and accountability from Oregon’s district attorneys. Using our platform, DAs can change their role to improve safety throughout Oregon.
On May 19, voters will elect or re-elect DAs in Baker, Benton, Clackamas, Coos, Crook, Curry, Douglas, Harney, Hood River, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Lake, Lane, Linn, Multnomah, Polk, Umatilla, Wasco, Wheeler and Yamhill counties. We urge all district attorney candidates in Oregon to adopt the Oregon DA for the People platform. Together, we can restore democracy to this elected position and demand accountability and transparency from Oregon’s next district attorneys, in this election and beyond.
Signed,
Maria Cahill
1 1981 Supreme Court ruling for "abolute immunity for gov't officials" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlow_v._Fitzgerald
2 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision upholding immunity for a police officer who murdered someone on a traffic stop: https://www.leagle.com/decision/infco20170314101
3 Brady Violations: https://theappeal.org/the-epidemic-of-brady-violations-explained-94a38ad3c800/