This panel addresses the evolving role and attitudes of prosecutors in 2022. The aim of this Program is to address misconceptions and the challenges LGBTQ prosecutors face when existing in that role and carrying with them an identity that has a complicated relationship with criminal justice. Change is a powerful thing and critiques of the criminal justice system from LGBTQ populations have made the pursuit of justice fairer and more representative of how different communities define justice.
This panel will discuss how the addition of specialty courts, including Drug Treatment Courts, Mental Health Courts, and Integrated Domestic Violence Courts, were created to take into account that solutions in cases like these look different from traditional sentencing and gave prosecutors tools toward rehabilitation. Doing the right thing, must include an understanding of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion so that the rights and treatment of ALL: victims, defendants and members of the community are taken into consideration in a prosecutor’s efforts to achieve fair justice and a safer community.
The LGBTQ community has been overly criminalized, and as such worked to voice new opinions and solutions to the issues of inequity in the criminal justice system, leading to reform. The impact of the Criminal Justice Reform movement on Prosecution, which includes Bail Reform, Early Mandated Discovery and Raising the Age of those who should be criminally prosecuted as adults, will be examined. Ultimately, this panel will be centered around how voices of the LGBTQ community working from inside prosecutors’ offices is a feature that makes the aim of making communities healthier and safer and how LGBTQ voices outside those offices being heard works in tandem to achieve that goal.