Prosecutor’s misconduct
Respond to the stated question, including any relevance to and implications on the field of criminal justice. Be sure to discuss the issue(s) to which the question pertain(s). Remarks can include your opinion(s), but must be based on experience, research, and/or prior learning. Use this exercise to foster a rich dialogue with your colleagues about issues that are important to the field of criminal justice.
We often think of misconduct only being committing by police or correctional officers, but what happens when the prosecutor is under investigation for misconduct. Please click on the link below and read the article by Chris Ingalls and think of the implications from the actions of the prosecutor and future cases.
https://www.king5.com/article/news/i-section/fired-snohomish-county-prosecutor-faces-second-criminal-charge/281-585838260
Prosecutor’s misconduct
Misconduct in the criminal justice system has interested most researchers and policing scholars forgetting the role of the organization in understanding the misconduct. The justice department investigates the alleged misconduct involving cases such as sexual misconduct, false arrest, use of excessive force and so on. Attention is directed to police officers, correctional officers, jailers, and probation officer’s misconduct but not on what happens when the prosecutor is under investigation of misconduct according to Caldwell, 2017. The paper is a discussion of misconduct investigation and the implication of the prosecutor’s actions.
United States prosecutors are influential and powerful when it comes to depriving and destroying liberty and reputation of people. Prosecutors do not undergo outside supervision therefore most go against their code of conduct with impunity (Caldwell, 2017). The criminal justice department’s constitutional violations include cases such as hindering the victim from reporting misconduct, drafting a false report to hide the misconduct and lying to the local or any official.
Prosecutors just like paralegals and attorneys are expected to adhere to the standards of professional conduct in the law. Different states have a district disciplinary system for prosecutor’s misconduct where actions taken for misconduct can lead to serious reputations for instance loss of a job. In case of misconduct, a serious investigation is carried out where an attorney is given the mandate to present the defense. Prosecutor’s disciplinary cases are held confidential and funding of such cases is generated from the annual lawyers’ fees of that particular state.
The process of investigation begins by filling the complaint at the disciplinary office followed by an inquiry where all complaints are reviewed through a review process which most of the time leads to official filling formal prosecutors charges. A formal hearing follows which is trial-like and in the case warranted, punishment is imposed (Caldwell, 2017). Some states do not make the final decision before reviewing the case in the highest court that decides disbarment or suspension. According to the offense punishment to a prosecutor comes in different forms, for instance, public reprimand, private admonition, suspension or permanent disbarment. Additionally, a test of disciplinary proceedings is run although requires thousands of dollars and sometimes in between the investigation process the court decided upon dismissing or sanctioning the complaint.
According to (2018, August 20) various prosecutors cases show implications of prosecutor’s misconduct, for instance, prosecutor Dickson fired for various misconduct such as being drunk above the legal limit as well as sexually assaulting a woman by grabbing her breasts. The main challenge during misconduct investigation and action took is lack of reality check on the behavior especially through the “harmless error rule”. Additionally, prosecutors are rarely punished for instance in cases such as fraudulent evidence with believing that prosecutors are not supposed to be sued civilly (Gershowitz, 2018). – PhD Dissertation Writing Services USA
Consequently, prosecutors are supposed to maintain a higher ethical profile and act professionally according to the criminal justice constitutional laws. Prosecutors get involved in misconduct through various instances, for instance, hiding evidence, lying to the local and federal officials, sexual assault and any other unethical behavior contrary to expectations. Prosecutors are investigated where the disciplinary system varies from state to state in terms of punishments adhered to. The investigation process goes through various steps beginning with filing the complaint to the court’s final decision. Implications of the actions are based on the type of offense where punishment is rendered in terms of suspension, permanent dismissal, private admonition, and a public reprimand.
References
Caldwell, H. M. (2017). Everybody talks about prosecutorial conduct but nobody does anything about it: A 25-year survey of prosecutorial misconduct and a viable solution. U. Ill. L. Rev., 1455. – PhD Dissertation Writing Services USA
Fired Snohomish County prosecutor faces second criminal charge. (2018, August 20). Retrieved from https://www.king5.com/article/news/i-section/fired-snohomish-county-prosecutor-faces-second-criminal-charge/281-585838260
Gershowitz, A. M. (2018). The Challenge of Convincing Ethical Prosecutors That Their Profession Has a Brady Problem.
