From the Courtroom to the Community: Ethics and Liability Issues for the Community Prosecutor

• NCJ Number: 207524
• Author(s): Michael R. Kuykendall
• Date Published: August 2004
• Length: 25 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2000-PP-CX-K001
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Corporate Author: American Prosecutors Research Institute
• Sale Source: American Prosecutors Research Institute
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded November 17, 2004.

Annotation

Following a review of the traditional role of the prosecutor and the ethical principles associated with it, this paper discusses challenges to these ethical principles that have emerged in community prosecution.

Abstract

Under the traditional role, the prosecutor faces ethical dilemmas within the framework of an adversarial legal system in which the prosecutor is an advocate for the State in the administration of justice. To the extent that case-processing standards focus solely on legally relevant factors and such standards are applied impartially, prosecutors act ethically; however, as the community-based prosecutor sets priorities for prosecution through consultation and collaboration with the community, other ethical issues may arise, including the following: impartiality, treating similarly situated defendants similarly, due process liability and immunity, displacement, the abuse of limited prosecutorial resources, and political pandering. A case study shows how these issues may arise and be addressed in community prosecution in a district in Portland, OR. The case study shows how focusing on certain crimes in specific geographic regions has the potential to undermine general deterrence and the basic ethical principles of prosecution. The strategy at issue involved providing complete geographic coverage of neighborhoods that are susceptible to disorder crime, using the least intrusive measures to achieve the desired results. At the same time, the prosecutor's office continued to apply its traditional sanctioning function to the more serious criminal offenses. By maintaining legal relevance and impartiality in addressing the full spectrum of crime throughout the district while addressing specific issues in some neighborhoods, the prosecutor's office avoided bias in the use of prosecutorial resources while refraining from using the prosecution function as an investigative tool. It also adhered strictly to due process requirements. 16 references and 9 resources