“Progressive prosecutor” can sound like a catchall descriptor for any district attorney willing to pack fewer bodies into jails and prisons. But one race this year seems to have redefined the term. In a July primary runoff, José Garza, a former public defender and labor organizer, resoundingly defeated Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore, the self-described progressive incumbent, by 36 points. Garza, the presumed winner in the November general election in deep-blue Travis County, is part of a new wave of progressive DA candidates in Texas this year who have argued for a more transformative change of the criminal legal system. National progressive groups call his promise to end low-level drug prosecutions in Travis County a milestone in the movement to end the war on drugs. Garza spoke with the Observer about drug enforcement, public safety, and police accountability.
Texas Observer: Prosecutors work closely with police, but also hold them accountable. How would you navigate that relationship?
José Garza: I think it’s really about the relationship between the police department and the public. What does public safety really mean? I think that in Austin our community has said explicitly that their understanding of public safety is stability, good jobs, access to health care, access to mental health care, access to good education. They have clearly rejected the idea that public safety is locking up as many working-class people and people of color as we can. They’re asking for the police department to understand that shift and to come to the table to be part of the discussion.
