(Image source from: HuffPost)
Rachael Rollins, a former prosecutor and the first person of color to be general counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, defeated four other candidates for Boston's Suffolk County district attorney seat, in Tuesday's Democratic primary.
"I am honored and humbled," Rollins, who is considered a reformer candidate, said in a statement Tuesday night. "But I also need to say - for all of us - that this is earned. As a 47-year old Black Woman, I have earned this. We have earned this. This is the time for us to claim our power and make good on our promises to make true criminal justice reform for all of the people in Suffolk County."
Rollins will now face independent candidate Michael Maloney, who has worked as a defense attorney, in the November general election. There were no candidates in the Republican primary. If in November, Rollins wins she would become the first woman and first person of color to lead Boston's criminal justice system as the top prosecutor in Suffolk County.
Rollins ran under a progressive vision for the top prosecutor's office, supporting an extremity to cash bail for low-level offenses, increasing the use of alternatives to captivity, such as restorative justice programs and rehabilitation, and repealing the use of compulsory minimum sentences.
Here’s a list of the charges @Rollins4DA has said she will decline to prosecute. Historic. pic.twitter.com/d0rGBvDxvS
— Amy Littlefield (@amylittlefield) September 5, 2018
"The election of Rachael Rollins was another litmus for criminal justice reform," said Shaun King, co-founder of political action committee Real Justice, which endorses reform-minded candidates for local prosecutor, including Rollins. "Her win means that everyone needs to start paying attention to these critical races. Justice and good governance begin at the community level, and in this case, justice begins with Rachael Rollins."
Rollins' triumph is likewise important in that she is a woman of color running for district attorney. 95 percent of elected prosecutors are white, and 79 percent are male. Only 1 percent of prosecutors in the United States are women of color.
By Sowmya Sangam
