The Legitimation Strategies of “Progressive” Prosecutors

This article focuses on the self-legitimation strategies of frontline prosecutors working in a Northeastern city United States (“Belton”). The research took place self-described “progressive” prosecutor's office midst legitimacy crisis that faced across country. Belton spoke about their role and practices face this through strategy differentiation from other criminal justice actors, aimed at establishing purported positional moral superiority enacting practices, minimizing responsibility for systemic harms more generally have been said to perpetuate.