The Justice Project has released a new report enti­tled ​“Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: A Policy Review.” The report details some of the caus­es of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct and makes rec­om­men­da­tions for reform. With a par­tic­u­lar focus on pre­vent­ing pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al errors that lead to wrong­ful con­vic­tions, the study explores how a lack of trans­paren­cy and account­abil­i­ty has allowed pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct to per­sist nation­wide. The report states that its rec­om­men­da­tions would improve pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al account­abil­i­ty, there­by sav­ing juris­dic­tions the enor­mous costs of re-try­ing cas­es over­turned due to misconduct. 

Among the pol­i­cy review’s rec­om­men­da­tions:

· States should require that pros­e­cu­tors’ offices adopt and enforce clear­ly defined poli­cies on the appro­pri­ate use of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al dis­cre­tion.
· States should adopt open-file dis­cov­ery in crim­i­nal cas­es, increas­ing the trans­paren­cy of the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem and reduc­ing the risk that pros­e­cu­tors will with­hold evi­dence from the defense.
· States should effec­tive­ly respond to mis­con­duct by estab­lish­ing pros­e­cu­tor review boards with the pow­er to inves­ti­gate and sanc­tion pros­e­cu­tors.
· States should require that all pros­e­cu­tors par­tic­i­pate in train­ing and con­tin­u­ing legal edu­ca­tion.

The full report may be found here. The Jusice Project is a Washington, D.C., based non-prof­it, non-par­ti­san orga­ni­za­tion ded­i­cat­ed to improv­ing the fair­ness and accu­ra­cy of the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem. TJP has devel­oped a nation­al pro­gram of ini­tia­tives designed to address the poli­cies and pro­ce­dures that lead to errors and con­tribute to wrong­ful con­vic­tions.

(The Justice Project, ​“Improving Prosecutorial Accountability: A Policy Review,” April 2009). See Studies and Prosecutorial Misconduct.

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