The Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 20 that would penalize state and local elected attorneys for not enforcing Texas’ abortion laws and other classes of law. Not just Texas, but other Republican-led states around the nation are drafting bills seeking to reign in district and county attorneys who are not prosecuting crimes under state law, notably abortion.
Ever since the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, there has been a clash between Republican-led states making abortion illegal, and the elected attorneys in those states to prosecute and enforce those laws.
In a joint statement signed by 92 elected attorneys around the nation, they stated that abortion should not be an issue that they prosecute, and they will not dedicate limited resources to prosecuting people for seeking an abortion. “Not all of us agree on a personal or moral level on the issue of abortion. But we stand together in our firm belief that prosecutors have a responsibility to refrain from using limited criminal legal system resources to criminalize personal medical decisions. As such, we decline to use our offices’ resources to criminalize reproductive health decisions and commit to exercise our well-settled discretion and refrain from prosecuting those who seek, provide, or support abortions.”
This is not just about abortion laws. There are other classes of law elected attorneys might refrain from prosecuting. According to the Texas Tribune, “Some district and county attorneys in Texas have said they will not prosecute people accused of violating the state’s near-total abortion bans. There’s also conflict over whether prosecutors will pursue allegations of election fraud, as well as cases involving first-time drug offenders or low-level theft.”
In the Texas Legislature, Senate Bill 20 states that prosecuting attorneys may not adopt policies that limit or prohibits the enforcement of any criminal offense. The consequences would be removed from office. “Texans unapologetically believe in the rule of law and expect their judges and district attorneys to follow Texas law. SB 20 and SB 21 are two of my top priorities this session because it is unacceptable that rogue district attorneys and judges, primarily in big cities, are not following our laws. These bills send a clear message that their delinquent behavior will not be tolerated,” stated Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
These elected attorneys believe that they need the discretion to decide what cases they prosecute and which ones they do not. With limited resources, should they investigate an abortion, or should they investigate homicides?
However, the writer of Senate Bill 20 states that prosecutors can maintain their level of discretion to decide what cases to dedicate their resources to. They just cannot refrain from prosecuting an entire class of cases such as all abortion cases.