Chapter Six: Prosecutors

Role of the Prosecutor Broad Discretion Decentralized Part of the executive branch of government In some cases challenge judicial decisions Initiate, conduct and terminate prosecutions Duty to see justice is done as an officer of the court Immune from civil lawsuits when acting as courtroom advocates Decentralized 8,000+ federal, state, county, municipal, and township prosecution agencies Separate prosecutors are found in federal and state courts

Role of the Prosecutor 3

Role of the Prosecutor 4

Prosecutions in Federal Court U.S. Attorney General Three most important entities: Solicitor General Criminal Division of the Justice Department U.S. Attorneys Conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Headed by the U.S. Attorney General Includes agencies such as the FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshalls, etc. Solicitor General 3rd ranking officer in DOJ Represent executive branch before the Supreme Court however responds also under the judicial branch Argues all government cases before the court Criminal Division of the Justice Department Formulates criminal law enforcement policies in federal cases International matters and terrorism oversight, i.e., OK City Bombing U.S. Attorneys Principal litigator under the direction of the attorney general Appointed and serve at the discretion of the president with the consent of the Senate One attorney assigned to each judicial district Three responsibilities Prosecute criminal cases by the federal government Initiate and defend civil cases where the US is a party Collect debts owed by the federal government

Prosecution in State Courts Three overlapping entities State Attorney General Chief Prosecutor Local Prosecutor State Attorney General State’s chief legal officer Reps and Provides legal advice to other state agencies Chief Prosecutor Aka: district attorney, county attorney, prosecuting attorney- chief officer in the community 95% are voted in to position for 4 year terms Local Prosecutor Aka: city attorneys, solicitors Approximately 5,700 Represents in initial appearance Argues bond amounts Process large number of minor criminal offenses

The Prosecutors Office at Work Assistant District Attorneys Assistant District Attorney Most hired after grad school Turnover rate is extremely high- avg. 2-4 years (due to low salary and pressures) Learning the job Law school provides little exposure of the day to day operations of this profession Promotions and office structure Vertical prosecution in smaller offices- intake to appeal Horizontal prosecution in larger offices- attorneys assigned to courtrooms and judges

Prosecutorial Ethics Ethical issues different from those facing defense attorneys Client of the prosecutor is the government Ethical issues facing prosecutors Disclosure of evidence Conflict of interest Discretion How much information to release to the public Client of the prosecutor is the government therefore they are given special responsibilities Disclosure of evidence is the dominant legal ethical issue confronting prosecutors Conflict of interest Amount of discretion and the use of discretion Discretion to seek the death penalty Amount of information to release to the public/press

Prosecutors and Courtroom Work Groups Prosecutor’s role in work group Political styles and contrasting work groups Prosecutor is the most important person in the work group Set agenda for the judge and defense attorney through discretion over a case Determine the nature of acceptable plea negotiations and sentence Control flow of information about a case Conflicting goals and contrasting work groups Some serve as police advocates and justice Some impartially administer justice and secure convictions

Case Close-Up Burns v. Reed and Prosecutorial Misconduct Should prosecutors be immune from civil lawsuits? What did the Supreme Court say? Prosecutors get qualified immunity from lawsuits re: advice given to police Intentional misconduct or negligent advice they can be held liable for