{"id":129155,"date":"2015-12-17T07:21:43","date_gmt":"2015-12-17T14:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/17\/when-the-prosecutors-are-criminals.html"},"modified":"2015-12-19T18:03:34","modified_gmt":"2015-12-20T01:03:34","slug":"when-the-prosecutors-are-criminals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/12\/17\/when-the-prosecutors-are-criminals.html","title":{"rendered":"When the Prosecutors are Criminals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Prosecutorial misconduct is far more prevalent than most folk realize (or want to realize). In part it's because of the nature of our adversarial justice system, where the truth of a case is supposedly hammered out by advocates for one side vs the other; this can lead to defense misconduct as well, but as the prosecution has the powers of the state and the police behind it, their level of responsibility must be all the higher.<\/p>\n

But it's not just a matter of prosecutors being incented to convict, rather than to determine the truth of a case, but of the entire system around them being incented in the same way, meaning that those prosecutors (or cops, or judges) who get caught with misconduct that leads to an innocent life being destroyed by a conviction (if not snuffed out in capital cases) are rarely if ever punished.<\/p>\n

Another contributing factor is that our justice system is more of a process<\/i> than an ideal<\/i> — as long as all the boxes are checked, everyone happy. That's the explicitly stated goal in conservative attempts to limit the appeals system, and in the support that such efforts get from SCOTUS judges like Alito and Scalia. The truth of exculpatory evidence (or, sometimes, misconduct) is less important than whether the process was followed; if so, then the defendant had their day in court and there's no basis for appeal, next case, move along.<\/p>\n

Human systems without accountability inevitably fall apart to human weaknesses. If prosecuting attorneys are not held to strict codes of ethics, and punished against them when they transgress, then the easy path will be to do whatever is necessary to win prominent cases and, so, promotions and elections. That's human nature, and it's pernicious, and it's been true in far too many cases for anyone to be truly comfortable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\n
\n<\/a>
\nFor the First Time Ever, a Prosecutor Will Go to Jail for Wrongfully Convicting an Innocent Man | Mark Godsey<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prosecutorial misconduct is far more prevalent than most folk realize (or want to realize). In part it's because of the nature of our adversarial justice system, where the truth of a case is supposedly hammered out by advocates for one side vs the other; this can lead to defense misconduct as well, but as the … Continue reading “When the Prosecutors are Criminals”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-crime-punishment"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22534,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/09\/06\/unblogged-bits-tue-6-sep-11-2330.html","url_meta":{"origin":129155,"position":0},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Tue. 6-Sep-11 2330)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 6-Sep-11 11:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... TSA Agent Threatens Woman With Defamation, Demands $500k For Calling Intrusive Search 'Rape' | Techdirt - Dear Ms Alkon: You go, girl! Love, Me. Mentally disabled man robbed of his epic Superman collection \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comics & Comic Books"","block_context":{"text":"Comics & Comic Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128957,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/11\/22\/welfare-programs-dont-promote-laziness.html","url_meta":{"origin":129155,"position":1},"title":"Welfare programs don't promote laziness","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 22-Nov-15 10:14am","format":false,"excerpt":"A look at benefit programs both in the developing world and elsewhere indicates that well-designed and properly incented cash hand-out programs have little effect on work done, or actually encourage recipients to go out and find better-paying jobs.While there are doubtless always people who game the system (whether with welfare\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47943,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/11\/on-enabling-the-bums-to-revel-in-their-bummishness.html","url_meta":{"origin":129155,"position":2},"title":"On enabling the bums to revel in their bummishness","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 11-Nov-14 10:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Jesus was clearly a do-gooder sap who didn't realize that if you don't feed hungry they'll be incented to grow their own food; if you don't clothe the naked they'll get tired of being naked and get a job to afford clothing; if you don't tend to the sick then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13207,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/06\/24\/justice_may_be_blind_but.html","url_meta":{"origin":129155,"position":3},"title":"Justice may be blind, but she’s leaning a bit to the right","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 24-Jun-08 1:12pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Justice Department's Inspector General has found significant bias in an honors hiring program in the federal prosecutors department -- a bias toward recruiting conservatives and rejecting liberals. \u201cMany qualified...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":137883,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2019\/02\/20\/california-police-unions-fight-to-protect-police-misconduct-from-becoming-public.html","url_meta":{"origin":129155,"position":4},"title":"California police unions fight to protect police misconduct from becoming public","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 20-Feb-19 11:06pm","format":false,"excerpt":"A new California law opens up police misconduct records around excessive violence and sexual misconduct to the public. But, for some mysterious reason, police unions in the state are fighting tooth and nail to keep the law from going fully into effect, or to restrict such record releases to misconduct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130986,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/05\/the-clinton-email-investigation-concludes-probably.html","url_meta":{"origin":129155,"position":5},"title":"The Clinton email investigation concludes (probably)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 5-Jul-16 11:05am","format":false,"excerpt":"The FBI will recommend against federal prosecutors making any charges regarding Hillary Clinton's various email arrangements during her tenure as Secretary of State. https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/news\/pressrel\/press-releases\/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b.-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clintons-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-systemAnd, yes, Clinton's opponents are already screaming \"cover-up\" and \"the fix is in,\" but not addressing the following:'Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129211,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129155\/revisions\/129211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}