JOINT STATEMENT FROM ELECTED PROSECUTORS ON REJECTING LAW

ENFORCEMENT UNION CAMPAIGN ENDORSEMENTS AND CONTRIBUTIONS

Across the country, ongoing protests against police brutality and racial oppression have sent a
loud and clear message that change is needed. Protesters have drawn critical attention to a
criminal legal system that has caused immense pain and injustice and does not even aim to
keep all of us safe. More importantly, these protests have forced us to reckon with our
responsibility to build trust between our communities and those operating within this system. As
key actors in that system, we cannot cling to the status quo and pretend there are no issues
with the way things have been done. We need to change by separating ourselves from law
enforcement unions.*

As prosecutors, we play a fundamental role in the criminal legal system. How we act in that role
affects both how the system operates and how people perceive how the system operates.
Because of this, regardless of our actions in the past, we are joining others in committing that
will not accept campaign endorsements or contributions from police unions going forward.

Campaign endorsements and contributions send a message. They tell citizens that the
candidate—in this case, a prosecutor seeking election—aligns with the values and interests of
the donor or endorser. And they create a perceived (if not actual) impression that the elected
official is beholden to that group. So what are the values and interests of police unions that
elected prosecutors will be perceived as aligning with?

In recent weeks, police unions have been the most vocal opponents of reasonable reforms and
necessary changes. It has become increasingly clear that — despite what they might say —the
interest being advanced by police unions is not the safety of our communities, but rather
protecting themselves and maintaining the harmful, broken criminal legal system. We cannot
accept that and we will not be tied, or perceived as beholden, to it.

Further, we cannot ignore the conflict of interest that these campaign contributions create. We
cannot ignore the reasonable skepticism our communities have about our ability to objectively
review an instance of police misconduct because we accepted political and financial support
from the organization representing the person whose conduct is under review. When police
misconduct occurs, it is our responsibility to consider those cases with the same objectivity and
analysis we apply to any other case. We recognize now that being on the “political payroll” of
police unions is simply inappropriate and unethical.

We hear the resounding calls for us to do better by those we serve. Many steps remain, but one
concrete and immediate way we intend to do better is by declining any campaign endorsements
or contributions made by a law enforcement union. For us—and for our communities—it just
isn’t worth it.
*Our use of the term "union" includes any organized association of law enforcement officers,
formed to protect and further their rights and interests. Law enforcement unions go by other
names, including "federations" and "associations.”

Signed by:

Andrea Harrington
Berkshire District Attorney
Berkshire County, Massachusetts

Aramis D. Ayala
Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney
Ninth Judicial Circuit, Florida

Beth McCann
Denver District Attorney
Second Judicial District, Colorado

Buta Biberaj
Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney
Loudoun County, Virginia

Carol A. Siemon
Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney
Ingham County, Michigan

Chesa Boudin
San Francisco District Attorney
San Francisco, California

Dan Satterberg
King County Prosecuting Attorney
King County, Washington

David Clegg
Ulster County District Attorney
Ulster County, New York

Diana Becton
Contra Costa County District Attorney
Contra Costa County, California

Eric Gonzalez
Brooklyn District Attorney
Kings County, New York

Glenn Funk
District Attorney General of the Twentieth Judicial District
Twentieth Judicial District, Tennessee

Jean Peters Baker

Jackson County Prosecutor
Jackson County, Missouri

Joe D. Gonzales
Bexar County Criminal District Attorney
Bexar County, Texas

John J. Choi
Ramsey County Attorney
Ramsey County, Minnesota

John C. Creuzot
Dallas County Criminal District Attorney
Dallas County, Texas

John Hummel
Deschutes County District Attorney
Deschutes County, Oregon

John McCarthy
Montgomery County State’s Attorney
Montgomery County, Maryland

Justin Kollar
Kaua’i County Prosecuting Attorney
Kaua’i County, Hawaii

Kathleen Jennings
Attorney General
State of Delaware

Kimberly M. Foxx
Cook County State’s Attorney
Cook County, Illinois
Kim Gardner
St. Louis Circuit Attorney
St. Louis City, Missouri

Larry Krasner
Philadelphia District Attorney
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Lorrin Freeman
Wake County District Attorney
Tenth Prosecutorial District, North Carolina

Marian T. Ryan
Middlesex County District Attorney
Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Marilyn J. Mosby
State’s Attorney for Baltimore City
Baltimore City, Maryland

Mark A. Dupree, Sr.

Wyandotte County District Attorney
Twenty-Ninth Judicial District, Kansas

Michael O. Freeman
Hennepin County Attorney
Hennepin County, Minnesota

Natasha Irving
District Attorney of Maine’s Sixth Prosecutorial District
Sixth Prosecutorial District, Maine

Paul L. Howard, Jr.

Fulton County District Attorney
Atlanta Judicial Circuit, Georgia

Pete Holmes
Seattle City Attorney
Seattle, Washington

Rachael Rollins
Suffolk County District Attorney
Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Raúl Torrez
Bernalillo County District Attorney
Bernalillo County, New Mexico

Ryan Mears
Marion County Prosecutor
Marion County, Indiana

Sarah F. George
Chittenden County State's Attorney
Chittenden County, Vermont

Satana T. Deberry
Durham County District Attorney
Sixteenth Prosecutorial District, North Carolina

Shameca Collins
District Attorney for the Sixth Judicial District
Sixth Judicial District, Mississippi

Sherry Boston
DeKalb County District Attorney
Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, Georgia

Sim Gill
Salt Lake County District Attorney
Salt Lake County, Utah

Stephanie Morales
Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney
Portsmouth, Virginia

Steve Descano
Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney
Fairfax County, Virginia

Tori Verber Salazar

San Joaquin County District Attorney
San Joaquin County, California

Wesley Bell
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney
St. Louis County, Missouri