Progressive prosecutor’s data show increase in crime

For years, progressives have whined about prosecuting crime , what they dub “mass incarceration,” as a woe to society. They complained it was racist, perpetuated broken families, and did little for either rehabilitation or deterrence. So an experiment was born.

Billionaire George Soros promoted candidates for district attorney (the main prosecutor in a city) who would fail to prosecute entire categories of crime. Onlookers, including the prosecutors they unseated, argued that this experiment would lead to an increase in crime and thus a greater woe to society, resulting in more crime and misery in poor communities, more broken families, and zero deterrence.

So who was right? Fairfax County is the latest county to show that it’s not the experimental progressives.

Virginia has long aggregated data to track crime statistics in counties throughout the commonwealth. One can easily search defendants’ names in online systems and quickly find any crimes they’ve been charged with and the outcomes.

However, one county remained an exception to this: one of the largest and wealthiest counties in the nation, Fairfax County. That is, until this month.

In July, crime data finally became available for Fairfax County, and the statistics aren't exactly an endorsement of progressive prosecution. Steve Descano was elected as the commonwealth’s attorney for Fairfax County in 2019 and ran on a platform of “ reducing mass incarceration ,” which he has accomplished by simply refusing to prosecute cases with good evidentiary bases.

Since he has taken office, all crime has increased by 15%, crimes against persons have increased by 26%, aggravated assault has increased by 43%, and carjacking has increased by 74%.

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Beyond endangering communities, failing to prosecute entire categories of crime isn’t within the power of a prosecutor. Prosecutors are elected to hold criminals accountable, not to craft legislation. By assuming the top seat in the county, Descano and others like him feel it is their duty to choose which crimes to pursue — not based on evidence or the victim’s wishes, but based on their own personal convictions about the validity of the statute. This nullification of statutes enacted by the Virginia General Assembly is the power of a king, a power explicitly rejected in the colonies.

If this trend continues, not only will we gut the effectiveness of the legislature and harm our democracy, but the crime rate will continue to rise. The Soros experiment needs to come to an end.

Maggie Cleary Kilgore is a visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Law Center and a deputy commonwealth attorney in Culpeper County, Virginia. She is a former special counsel to Attorney General Jason Miyares and a former deputy secretary of public safety and homeland security under Gov. Glenn Youngkin's (R-VA) administration.