In the 1990s, Phillip Villanueva attempted to rob a local doughnut shop. With this being his “third strike,” he was sentenced to 25 years to life. While in prison for more than two decades, Villanueva dedicated himself to rehabilitation, participating in programs such as substance recovery, conflict resolution, mentorship, and even training service dogs for veterans. To his surprise, in 2018, a law passed that enabled the very same prosecutor’s office that had once sentenced him toprison to instead recommend Villanueva’s release. This was the key to his freedom.

The law, called prosecutor-initiated resentencing, is a form of “second-look” legislation that enables prosecutors to revisit old cases and propose revised sentences to the court. PIR posits that if prosecutors can recommend a sentence on the front end, then it is only just that they be able to look back, years later, and determine whether that sentence is still appropriate.

There are many benefits to this innovation. When we reunite people like Villanueva with their families, we build stronger communities with present parents, new taxpayers, and good neighbors. Additionally, PIR can redirect substantial taxpayer funds toward crime prevention measures such as substance abuse recovery, education, child care, and mental health support. (In some states, it costs $132,000 a year to incarcerate one person.) Yet what most prosecutors don’t realize is that there is a hidden upside to adopting these laws: attracting young lawyers to the field of prosecution.

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New research shows that there is a rapidly growing prosecutor shortage in this country, with retirements and resignations outpacing new recruits. In Miami, for example, 33 percent of prosecutor positions are unfilled. Although some may cheer the shrinking scope of law enforcement officers, the shortage crisis may ultimately have a negative impact on reform efforts: If you want more reform, you actually need more prosecutors processing cases.

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Over the previous decade or so, more than 100 district attorney’s offices nationwide have created conviction integrity units to examine innocence claims and ethics issues. PIR is a continuation of this movement and can often be handled by these units, providing an opportunity for prosecutors to address cases beyond the claim of innocence. During the PIR process, prosecutors meticulously review cases, considering factors such as a person’s life before prison, how they have spent their time in prison, and their plans to reenter society.

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In the past five years, I have worked to advance this area of law, leveraging my experience as a former prosecutor who recognizes the importance of looking back. Today, five states—California, Washington, Oregon, Illinois, and Minnesota—have enacted PIR, resulting in nearly 1,000 people resentenced and given a second chance at freedom. The process is favored by prosecutors because it centers victim input, rehabilitation, and public safety, making it a balanced and holistic reform.

One way PIR laws are engaging future attorneys is through law school clinics, fellowships, and internships. These programs educate students about the multifaceted role of prosecutors—beyond influencing decisions on charging, bail, evidence, and plea bargains. Through law clinics specifically, students review real cases of currently incarcerated people, scrupulously analyzing details over months and presenting them to elected prosecutors, who ultimately decide whether their offices will bring the person home.

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Such clinical experience can broaden law students’ understanding of prosecution and reveal prosecutors’ power to effect change on the front end and the back end. At the core, this challenges the adversarial nature of our criminal justice system. Innovations like PIR have the power to recruit a young, diverse talent pool who may otherwise choose a different path than prosecution.

I have seen several such attorneys shift career paths toward prosecution after interacting with PIR and similar innovations early on in their careers. It is clear that dynamic innovations such as PIR encourage people who might otherwise not see themselves in these roles—first-generation college students, people of color, and women—to consider prosecution as a means of ensuring justice.

Having returned home in 2022, Phillip Villanueva now works as a forklift operator, is married, and mentors youth in his community. There are thousands of other people like Villanueva in our prisons who could safely be released. Whether their sentences were based on outdated policies from the 1980s and ’90s or they have undergone successful rehabilitation, continuing their incarceration does not serve the interests of justice.

By embracing PIR, prosecutors’ offices not only help to bring people like Phillip home, but also increase their offices’ appeal to the next generation of attorneys.

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• Criminal Justice
• Jurisprudence