After the supreme court overturned Roe v Wade last year, district attorneys from major counties in Texas vowed not to vigorously prosecute people under the state’s anti-abortion laws.

Now, Texas has a plan to punish them if they don’t fall in line.

On Friday, Texas will enact Senate Bill 20, a law that forbids prosecutors from adopting a “policy” of refusing to prosecute particular types of crimes, such as abortion cases. Under the new law, these policies constitute “official misconduct” and could lead to prosecutors being removed from office.

This kind of legislation flies in the face of prosecutors’ normal ability to choose whether and how to pursue cases, said Miriam Krinsky, executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, an organization that works to support local prosecutors. Krinsky called the new law “scare tactics”.

    • XIN
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      fedilink
      181 year ago

      I don’t know why some people are surprised by this, they are perfectly consistent: if they agree with the law it’s good and should be upheld, if they don’t agree with the law it’s evil and is destroying our country.