What a Difference a DA Makes

This election year, district attorneys will be on the ballot.

The ACLU of Massachusetts is a nonpartisan nonprofit; we do not endorse candidates. But we're all in on public education. That's why we're sharing the resources you need to understand what DAs do — and how to hold them accountable.

Before diving in, check your voter registration and learn your rights as a voter!

• DAs lead a staff of prosecutors, known as assistant district attorneys (ADAs).

• In most cases in Massachusetts, police file charges; ADAs announce those charges in court and decide whether to continue prosecuting those cases, to dismiss the charges, or to divert the person’s case to a service outside of court.

• The DA’s office works with police and witnesses to investigate serious crimes.

• The DA then decides whether to prosecute anyone for those crimes.

• Prosecutors can use their authority to "stack” charges against people to encourage them to accept a plea deal and forgo their right to a trial.

• Prosecutors also have the power to drop or reduce criminal cases and help people access pretrial diversion programs, such as substance use disorder treatment.

• DAs can request that someone charged with a crime put up money, known as cash bail, as a condition of release — and if so, how much. A judge makes the final decision.

• Bail is intended to be a mechanism of release and to make sure the person returns to court as their case moves forward. If they miss court for whatever reason, prosecutors can also ask the court to issue an arrest warrant, to forfeit the money, and to set more restrictive conditions for the remainder of the case.

• If bail is set too high for people to afford, they may remain in jail for months or years while they await trial. They often lose their jobs, housing, and even custody of their children. For these reasons, people held on bail often plead guilty to resolve their case more quickly.

• Prosecutors also can request other conditions of release, including supervision such as GPS monitoring, curfews, mandatory drug or alcohol testing, or even home confinement in extreme cases. These conditions also significantly affect people’s pretrial liberty. At times, rather than keeping people on track to return to court, such conditions can create trip wires that result in people being sent to jail before they are ever proven guilty.

• The DA’s office is responsible for providing people charged with a crime with all the information to which they are entitled under the law, including evidence that may prove their innocence, known as “Brady” disclosures.

• Some DAs maintain lists of police officers in their jurisdictions who have been found to have behaved unethically, to have lied in court, or to have committed crimes themselves. These are known as “Brady lists” and can be important in helping accused people defend themselves.

• More than 95% of cases don’t actually go to trial. But if they do, it’s the DA’s job to try to prove that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt while ensuring the individual is treated fairly and receives due process.

• DAs can support or oppose the reopening of cases where there are credible claims of innocence or injustice, including by giving people access to all the evidence the DA's office used to initially prosecute them.