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5 Prosecutors With a Fresh Approach

Kim Foxx, a Democrat, was elected the state’s attorney in Cook County, Ill., in November.Credit...Joshua Lott for The New York Times

ORLANDO, Fla. — They don’t talk about locking up the bad guys and throwing away the key. They talk instead about a justice system that jails too many people at the expense, they say, of common sense, public safety and even humanity. Here are five change-minded prosecutors, all of them Democrats whose campaigns were funded by the billionare George Soros, and the causes they have championed.

State attorney for Hillsborough County, Fla. (Tampa)

Age: 40

Elected: November 2016

Background: Former federal prosecutor

Promise: To find alternatives to prison for nonviolent and first-time offenders, especially juveniles.

“Charging kids as adults should be reserved for the most serious, violent and chronic offenders. This is Juvenile Justice 101.”

District attorney for Mississippi’s 16th District (eastern Mississippi)

Age: 34

Elected: November 2015

Background: Defeated a 26-year incumbent, Forrest Allgood.

Promise: To expand alternatives like treatment for first-time offenders and drug users.

“The fact that, even in a conservative state that votes Republican overwhelmingly, that someone could run on a criminal justice reform platform and win, that tells you there’s been a shift in public opinion about how to deal with crime.”

State’s Attorney in Cook County, Ill. (Chicago)

Age: 44

Elected: November 2016

Background: As a child, she was sexually abused and was for a time homeless.

Promises: To prosecute retail theft cases involving less than $1,000 of merchandise as misdemeanors. Prosecutors will no longer oppose the release of nonviolent offenders with bonds under $1,000 if they cannot afford to pay.

“People should be in our jails because they pose a risk to the public or they are a flight risk. We wanted to make sure folks who don’t pose a risk are not sitting in jail because they’re poor and cannot afford to post bond.”

State attorney in Florida’s Ninth District (Orlando)

Age: 42

Elected: November 2016

Background: She is the first black elected prosecutor in Florida.

Promise: Won’t seek the death penalty.

“Certain communities want to know that their cries are heard. So I think it’s important to bridge that gap.”

District attorney for Harris County, Tex. (Houston)

Age: 57

Elected: November 2016

Background: She was the director of Crime Stoppers in Houston and of the city’s first anti-gang task force.

Promises: To avoid prosecutions for possession of small amounts of marijuana. To seek “very few” death sentences. To support changes that would jail fewer low-level offenders because they cannot afford bond.

“I’ve never felt good about putting marijuana users in the same jail cells as murderers. It’s just not fair, it doesn’t make any sense, and our country is resoundingly against that.”

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