NCJ Number
108090
Journal
Criminal Law Bulletin Volume: 23 Issue: 6 Dated: (November-December 1987) Pages: 550-567
Date Published
1987
Length
18 pages
Annotation
The primary causes of prosecutorial misconduct are endemic to the system, and only systemic reform, which is necessary to preserve the integrity of the trial process, can curb it.
Abstract
Our criminal justice system does not see prosecutorial misconduct as an important problem. Prosecutors are at least as fair, honorable, and honest as other attorneys. Their misbehavior is seen as merely aberrant conduct, the occasional deviation from the normal prosecutorial path. Once in a while, a prosecutor may become overzealous, or even venal in his pursuit of criminals, but that only occurs once in a while. Since extraordinary forces cause this misconduct, significant reforms of the criminal justice system are not necessary to deal with it. This conclusion rests on a grossly mistaken foundation. Aberrant pressures are not the major cause of prosecutorial misconduct. Instead, the forces that impel it exist in routine cases for ordinary prosecutors. (Author abstract)