Chris Johnson For Attorney General

“I will seek justice for those who our legal system leaves behind.”

That statement from Chris Johnson appears on every lit piece that the Johnson campaign distributes.

Three other words are equally prominent on that same lit piece:

“…never a prosecutor.”

We endorse Chris Johnson because he is the only candidate for Attorney General who is committed to reforming Delaware’s criminal justice system, and capable of doing so.

He is running for the position as someone who has seen, and keenly understands, the inequities in the way that ‘justice’ is meted out in Delaware. From mass incarceration for non-violent offenses, to people awaiting trial being held b/c they can’t afford bail, to police seizing people’s property (civil forfeiture) and then partnering with the AG’s office to divvy up the spoils amongst police agencies. He has seen the massive expenditures for a failed corrections system that does nothing to ‘correct’, and understands how that money can be better spent on education and health care and drug treatment and all sorts of initiatives that provide benefits to our state.

What you may not know is that he has been consulting with progressive AG’s throughout the country on how to best implement reforms that prevent non-violent offenders from being locked up needlessly, and how to hold police agencies more accountable than they have been held in Delaware (virtually completely unaccountable and exempt from laws that apply to all other Delawareans).  In other words, not only is he running for office to reform Delaware’s criminal justice reform, he is preparing to implement these reforms upon taking office. 

Contrast that with the other three candidates for Attorney General.  Kathleen Jennings has enabled the inequities that permeate the current system to flourish for decades, using the ‘look the other way when it comes to the police’ tradition to her advantage; Tim Mullaney literally represents the Fraternal Order of Police; and Lakresha Roberts wants to do nice things for children (‘The Attorney General For Families’) and families, but has not presented any comprehensive platform.

Make no mistake. This is a strong field, and the other candidates have served the state admirably.  But only Chris Johnson has committed to reforming Delaware’s criminal justice system.  He proposes to end mass incarceration and to reduce Delaware’s high rate of recidivism; stand up to the gun lobby and attack gun violence as a public health crisis; not use the death penalty as AG; stop incarcerating those merely suffering from addiction; ending cash bail (a subject that Kathy Jennings has just miraculously discovered in time to make a TV commercial); ending civil forfeiture, and many more.  You can find out more here. 

Now, let me tell you about Chris Johnson. He has walked the walk. He was a dedicated Voter Protection Attorney for the Obama For America Legal Protection Team; a litigation attorney for the City of Wilmington, where he worked to stem the flow of deadly weapons into the city; legal counsel and criminal justice policy advisor to Gov. Carney; a long-time board member for the Delaware Center for Justice; and a member of the Multicultural Judges and Lawyers section of the State Bar Association. Oh, and he has represented indigent families in legal proceedings as a defense attorney.

He also has one of the most incisive minds I’ve ever come across in a public official.  He understands how all these issues intersect, and has distinct plans on how to proceed as Delaware’s next Attorney General.

I daresay that there has never before been such a credible progressive candidate for Attorney General in Delaware.  He should win and he can win.

We proudly endorse Chris Johnson for Attorney General, and we encourage you to reward him with your vote on Thursday, September 6, 2018.