Nicole Thomas-Kennedy wants to abolish jails. Her campaign slogan was “Justice. Not Jails.“
She just defeated a three-term incumbent for Seattle City Attorney. The job of the Seattle City Attorney’s office is to prosecute misdemeanors in the city. The County Prosecutor’s office has to prosecute felonies.
The county prosecutor is Dan Satterberg, who is already weak on crime. He refuses to prosecute large numbers of offenders. Kennedy openly says she wants to exacerbate this by refusing to prosecute misdemeanors in general.
Kennedy says that prosecuting people for misdemeanors “criminalizes the poor, disabled, and BIPOCs.” She calls for the abolition of the very office she is running for! She says that the job of the Seattle City Attorney is to decide “which group of people to criminalize.”
She says, “punishment is not justice.” She has vowed not to prosecute people for crimes like thefts, drugs, and prostitution.
With Kennedy at the helm, criminals will not be prosecuted for low-level offenses until they graduate to high-level offensives and leave someone maimed or killed. Instead of charging people for committing crimes, Kennedy wants to use the resources of the Seattle City government to “sue fossil fuel companies” for global warming and sue to overturn Oregon’s 1998 ban on racial discrimination in college admissions and government contracts.
Part of her platform is to “defund the Seattle police department.”
In an open primary, Kennedy got first place with 36%. She will face Republican candidate Ann Davison in the general election, who got 33% in the open primary. Three-time incumbent Pete Holmes got 31% and is out.
