This week, President Biden announced his nomination of Rachael Rollins for the position of U.S. attorney for the district of Massachusetts. This could make her the chief federal prosecutor in the region. Right now, Rollins is D.A. for Suffolk County. Daniel Medwed, GBH News legal analyst and Northeastern law professor, joined Patrick Flanary on Morning Edition to discuss the significance and implications of this nomination. This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
Flanary: I want to start with the big picture. Rachael Rollins would be the first Black woman to hold this position if the Senate confirms her. Does this matter and why?
Medwed: This appointment, if it goes through, would have far-ranging, really important symbolic and practical significance. First, as you noted, she'd be the first Black woman at the helm of our U.S. attorney's office here in Massachusetts, the most prominent federal prosecutorial organization in the region and home to more than 200 lawyers. So that's a big deal.
Second and more notably, I think Rollins' voice is one that needs to be heard in the highest echelons of our federal law enforcement apparatus. She's a true criminal justice reformer who's committed to reducing mass incarceration and overcriminalization. And she's implemented policies that are designed to realize that ideal, most notably her policy to decline to prosecute wide swaths of categories of low level, nonviolent crime. Those policies have generated a fair bit of controversy, but I think they are a much needed in the Commonwealth. So in short, I'm thrilled about this appointment. I think it's a very good thing for the country and the Commonwealth.
"She's a passionate, brilliant, powerful Black woman who's willing to speak truth to power. And in Boston, that means speaking truth to the white male establishment."-Daniel Medwed
Flanary: You mentioned controversial — Rachael Rollins sometimes take shots for being too blunt. Rarely, by the way, do we hear of a man being accused or criticized for being too blunt. So, I wonder if some amount of sexism drives those comments. Her tendency is to sort of get into disputes with other officials. Sometimes that's a good thing. Expand on why she would be the right fit for this post.
Medwed: Here's why: She has the experience. She has spent about four years as an assistant U.S. attorney earlier in her career. She's been in this office and she has a wealth of administrative experience which could prove vital to running an office of this magnitude. [It’s] home to more than 200 lawyers. She also previously had a high-level administrative post, if I recall, in the Port Authority.
But most notably, as you point out, I think a lot of the controversy surrounding her stems from the fact that she's a passionate, brilliant, powerful Black woman who's willing to speak truth to power. And in Boston, that means speaking truth to the white male establishment, a constituency that needs to hear it but maybe doesn't want to listen. She's precisely the person we need in this office, if we're going to have a brave U.S. attorney who's going to take on local and state police departments that have gone bad.
If she's going to take on sophisticated criminal enterprises and white collar Ponzi schemes, we need someone who's fearless. I really think that's her superpower, Patrick, the willingness to stick to her principles and speak truth to power. The only real downside here is that we're losing her as our D.A. in Suffolk County, which in many respects is a more influential and impactful job in the day to day life of local residents.
Flanary: Well said. I'm curious — you've got Suffolk County, which is pretty massive, and then you've got this sort of federal position, which is extremely massive. How do you make that transition? Is she capable of handling that? And what happens if she's confirmed?
Medwed: I think she's more than capable of making that transition. The downside for her is that now she's a cog in a much larger federal machine, this huge Department of Justice organization, where to some extent she has to listen to people like Merrick Garland, the attorney general, or the president, Joe Biden. As the district attorney for Suffolk County, she effectively is the boss. I mean, she has other stakeholders and people she has to listen to, but she has a lot of autonomy in choosing her law enforcement priorities. To some extent in the U.S. attorney's office, her autonomy will be curtailed because she's part of this much bigger apparatus.
Flanary: We saw this as a new president takes over — they typically force resignations of all of all these sort of top prosecutors. So really, she would have two or three years maximum if Joe Biden is not reelected.
Medwed: That's right. Her term would end in 2024 and maybe she'd stay on again if he ran for reelection and he were reelected. But at the moment, we're thinking about a three year run, certainly.
Flanary: Who's going to take her place if confirmed?
Medwed: That's a great question. She already recommended her first assistant, Daniel Mulhern. But ultimately, the decision is up to the governor, Governor Charlie Baker. And it's no secret that Baker and Rollins haven't always seen eye to eye. It's really anyone's guess who he will pick. But what does seem clear is whoever he chooses will be in a catbird position for launching a run in 2020 when her term expires.
