The cover of today's USA Today features this lengthy, excellent article on prosecutorial misconduct (known to us laypeople as prosecutors messing up). It doesn't paint a pretty picture:
Federal prosecutors are supposed to seek justice, not merely score convictions. But a USA TODAY investigation found that prosecutors repeatedly have violated that duty in courtrooms across the nation. The abuses have put innocent people in prison, set guilty people free and cost taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees and sanctions. ...
USA TODAY documented 201 criminal cases in the years that followed in which judges determined that Justice Department prosecutors — the nation's most elite and powerful law enforcement officials — themselves violated laws or ethics rules. In case after case during that time, judges blasted prosecutors for "flagrant" or "outrageous" misconduct. They caught some prosecutors hiding evidence, found others lying to judges and juries, and said others had broken plea bargains.But the most common prosecutorial misconduct that USA Today fails to mention is the misconduct that occurs when prosecutors make charging decisions -- because in the federal and many state systems, the charge determines the sentence. Mandatory minimums are written into the criminal code by legislatures, so when prosecutors charge someone with breaking a law that carries a mandatory minimum, that mandatory minimum will apply. In short, prosecutors don't just prosecute -- they also sentence.
Posts
1 Comment:
This is unacceptable. But didn't Attorney General Holder's June memo make it easier for prosecutors to do it? The memo gives them more autonomy in charging decisions, which means that they will continue to be able to play judge over and over. It seems to me that Holder just aided in the imposition of who knows how many more mandatory minimums before these unjust sentences are eliminated for good.
Post a Comment