To those who have never had any dealings with America’s criminal “justice” system, and to those who have been victims of crime, prosecuting attorneys are often viewed as noble crusaders, fighting for truth and justice against the machinations of “slimy” defense lawyers who will do anything to ensure that the guilty go unpunished.
Even the rhetoric reflects this perception. If criminal defendants are wrongfully convicted, it is simply because prosecutors “made a mistake.” If criminal defendants are acquitted, however, it is because defense lawyers “got them off.” And an acquittal does not mean innocence in the eyes of the legal system. It simply means that the prosecutor was unable to prove guilt, “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
But when I practiced law, I discovered a different reality—one that often inspired me to say, tongue only slightly in cheek, that many prosecutors are nothing more than criminals with immunity.
The legal doctrine known as “absolute immunity” protects prosecutors from being sued by those they prosecute, even if they have been wrongfully accused and/or convicted. The underlying theory is that prosecutors would be unable to do their jobs if they had to worry about a potential lawsuit every time criminal charges were filed.
The truth, however, is that this doctrine causes many prosecutors to abuse the authority of their office, knowing they face little, if any, repercussions for doing so.
Thus, during my legal career, I saw a prosecutor angrily berate a defense attorney for revealing that a police officer’s perjury had resulted in a wrongful conviction; I heard another respond with a dismissive “Oh Well!” after a man she had been prosecuting was found guilty, even though she personally believed he was innocent; I witnessed another prosecutor try to criminally convict a man simply because he expressed a desire to sue the police department for the excessive force used against him; and I watched in disbelief as another excessive force victim—who had been beaten so severely that he had to be hospitalized—was put on trial for resisting arrest, even though the supervising police officer on the scene informed the prosecutor that the man had done nothing to justify the arrest or the beating.
The reason many prosecutors are little more than criminals with immunity is because they share the same ability as criminals—the ability to rationalize anything. For example, when a criminal was asked why he killed an entire family during a residential burglary, his answer was “They were home.” After another was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, “Because that’s where the money is.”
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