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The United States has a crime epidemic, and it is being further fueled by certain prosecutors who are more interested in radical leftist ideologies than in enforcing the law. These prosecutors are becoming disturbingly more common in many states and communities, and they have no reservations about sacrificing the safety and security of their residents to perform their deeply misguided and ridiculously dangerous social experiments.
In many jurisdictions around the United States, an increasing number of violent criminals are being released from custody as they await their trials – or given mere slaps on the wrists in plea deals that do nothing to rehabilitate them or to protect the community. This is a recipe for disaster and anarchy, and cities across the country are paying a catastrophic price as a result.
For example, a Seattle journalist recently highlighted that "both violent and property crimes really are up markedly – to the highest levels citywide in Seattle in more than two decades." The New York Times recently wrote that "Philadelphia is one of the few major American cities where it truly is as bad as (gun violence) has ever been." ABC Los Angeles reported that "in the first half of (2022), homicides recorded by the Los Angeles Police Department hit the highest level in over a decade." A headline from the New York Post read, "Summer 2022 crime surged in nearly every major category, NYPD stats reveal."
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These crime surges are not happening by accident, but are catalyzed by left-wing agendas severely influencing our prosecutorial system in the United States.
Just a few months ago, two police officers in El Monte, California were murdered by a gunman, who would have been in prison but for Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon’s blanket action towards sentencing leniencies.
In March, an Indianapolis police officer was shot by an individual who had a parole warrant, but was free due a gap in the bail system. Just this month, a man in Memphis, who had been released more than two years early from prison on an aggravated assault conviction, murdered four people in a terrifying shooting spree.
These are just a few of many similar stories of prosecutors and broken systems allowing hardened criminals to wreak havoc in American communities.
The American society and experiment was never meant to operate this way. One of America’s Founding Fathers, Thomas Paine, wrote in his groundbreaking pamphlet "Common Sense" that "government…..is a mode rendered necessary by the inability of moral virtue to govern the world…(for) freedom and security." Members of society undoubtedly infringe on each other’s rights and property. That’s why government is necessary: to ensure that God-given rights and personal property are defended and that justice is done whenever anyone crosses those boundaries.
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James Q. Wilson authored a broken-windows theory that I have embraced throughout my career as a prosecutor and as Arizona’s Attorney General. It says that when you allow little crimes to go unchecked, you end up seeing more frequent and serious crimes as a result. This type of negligence from prosecutors, combined with current movements to demonize and demoralize law enforcement, empowers individual criminals and organized gangs to further victimize innocent, law-abiding citizens.
Right now, we are seeing this tragedy play out in cities across this country. Once-vibrant and thriving hotspots of America have been turned into unrecognizable, crime-infested bastions of anarchy and failed social experiments. This will only get worse as more prosecutors betray their oaths of office and make a mockery of our criminal justice system.
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As a former gang prosecutor, I have seen the consequences of society allowing criminals to escape punishment for their infringement on Americans’ rights or property. I understand that people enter the social compact of society because of government’s primary function: public safety.
That’s why, as Attorney General, our office has been steadfast in upholding the law – both civilly and criminally. We know that our responsibility is to see that justice is served. That means never turning a blind eye to any criminal behavior, because from small seeds come big trees.
We respect and support hard-working members of law enforcement who risk their lives to protect our communities. These moral concepts are time-proven and vital in protecting our law-abiding citizens who are engaged in life, liberty, and their pursuit of happiness.
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Our country is based on a Constitution that is the envy of the world, and people want to live and raise their families here because we are a nation of laws that are more than just words on paper. However, this American experience is only possible when prosecutors uphold their solemn obligation to the administration of justice in the jurisdictions they are sworn to serve.
When prosecutors fail in their duty -- intentionally or otherwise -- Americans must move quickly to see that they are corrected or removed from office.
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