Progressive Feedback on Mikie Sherrill’s PBA Pod Cast
The following is commentary from a NJ Democrat who gives their feedback to Mikie Sherrill’s recent podcast participation with NJ’s police PBA “union.” The commentator preferred to have identity protected, a request FightBackBetter is always willing to honor as we experience terrorization of our communities by ICE, military occupations and IHRA fascist decrees and law proposals. The full AI generated transcription from the PBA podcast is here and the actual podcast link is here.
I listened to the “Union Strong: NJSPBA Voices Podcast” with Mikie Sherrill. It was a huge disappointment for me, as a criminologist and as a progressive. Here are some of my observations from this conversation:
Overall, in her PBA podcast interview, she repeatedly leaned on punitive rhetoric instead of evidence-based solutions:
On bail reform, she claimed reforms were “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” and floated “going back to the old way of doing business”. But the data show New Jersey’s bail reform is working — reducing unnecessary pretrial detention without increasing crime.
On youth violence, she warned “that’s got to end, because…they’re really committing a lot of incredibly violent crimes” and pushed for more detention beds. Yet research shows community violence interruption programs are far more effective with young people than incarceration.
On civilian oversight, she opposed subpoena powers for civilian review boards, saying they should only “bring the community into the table.” — a position that strips these boards of real accountability power.
On corrections, when asked about county jails, she confused them with prisons (which is inexcusable for a former prosecutor): “we’re having capacity issues everywhere…before you shut down any prisons, you need to have a plan for how you’re going to add capacity elsewhere.” This ignored how bail reform has reduced jail populations and led to county-level closures. Reducing jail population is actually an achievement, Mikie!
She repeatedly attacked AG Matt Platkin throughout the interview, blaming him for issues related to youth violence, bail reform, and marijuana enforcement. She explicitly stated that she would not reappoint him as Attorney General. Yet Matt Platkin has fought to safeguard democracy, advance evidence-based reforms, and defend civil rights. Since January 2025, he has been a leading voice against authoritarianism at the federal level.
Mikie Sherrill dismissed reforms that NJ voters themselves approved by referendum: bail reform (2014) and marijuana legalization (2020). She is showing disdain for popular mandates while pushing punitive, union-driven policies instead.
Across the board, her answers showed no progressive vision for justice in New Jersey: only punitive measures, policy imprecision, and a posture of servience to police and correctional unions. And let’s be honest: those unions are more likely to back Republicans at the ballot box, even as Sherrill caters to their demands.
The question is will her campaign care enough to engage with organizations and people working on progressive end of the criminal justice system in New Jersey? Or will I be attacked and bullied for bringing up these issues? The time will tell, I suppose.
