Constance
A lifelong Republican District Attorney in small-town Texas pursues criminal justice reform in the face of resistance from her conservative community.
Elected in 2019, District Attorney Constance Filley Johnson of Victoria, Texas has an agenda. A lifelong Republican, Filley Johnson aims to implement and expand alternative sentencing in her community through specialty courts, programs that involve rigorous outpatient treatment, counselling, training, and accountability as an alternative to jail time for nonviolent offenders. In order to be successful, these programs must have active support from local judges, but there is resistance to the non-punitive approach in this small town. If Filley Johnson can persuade conservative Judge Eli Garza to participate in her DWI and drug courts, she has a chance at making a tangible change to the lives of individuals caught up in the criminal justice system.