A More Progressive Prosecutor
“[Austin has] clearly rejected the idea that public safety is locking up as many working-class people and people of color as we can.”
“PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTOR” CAN SOUND LIKE A CATCHall descriptor for any district attorney willing to pack fewer bodies into jails and prisons. But one race this year seems to have redefined the term. In a July primary runoff, José Garza, a former public defender and labor organizer, resoundingly defeated Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore, the self-described progressive incumbent, by 36 points. Garza, the presumed winner in the November general election in deep-blue Travis County, is part of a new wave of progressive DA candidates in Texas this year who have argued for a more transformative change of the criminal legal about drug enforcement, public safety, and police accountability.
