SmarterthanYou
rebel
one of the last threads I brought this up in, I had several liberals and conservatives try to show why nullification is bad. But like any other right that we the people have, it can be abused or misused.....but the following is why we have it and why it needs to be utilized more often.
"THERE IS NO Freestanding Constitutional 'Right Not To Be Framed.' " So states a brief filed by Iowa prosecutors hoping to persuade the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit against them for allegedly fabricating evidence that led to the 25-year incarceration of two innocent men." Washington Post
Under the US Supreme Court's 1963 Brady v. Maryland decision, prosecutors must disclose any evidence that is material to either the guilt of the defendant or the severity of the alleged crime. In other words-evidence that would tend to exonerate or lessen the culpability of the accused must be turned over to defense attorneys by prosecutors.
In 1976, the Supreme Court held in Imbler v. Pachtman that prosecutors have absolute immunity from liability for their official actions during trial. They also have "qualified immunity" for their work outside of court.
"We have a broken system," said New York University professor Stephen Gillers. "We disbar lawyers for taking two hundred dollars from a client's escrow account, even if they return it. But there are rarely consequences for someone who has stolen someone else's due-process rights &...put an innocent person in jail."
"Calculating the full extent of prosecutorial misconduct can be difficult. More than 90% of criminal cases never go to trial, so the public has no way of knowing how prosecutors conduct themselves in the tens of thousands of cases every year that end in plea deals.
State appellate courts in theory the first check on misconduct allegations often criticize prosecutorial tactics but let convictions stand if they conclude the conduct did not decide the outcome of the case.
The damage from prosecutorial misconduct can be devastating, not only allowing guilty people to go free, but also putting innocents behind bars." Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica Reporter & Sergio Hernandez
Who Polices Prosecutors Who Abuse Their Authority? No one & they are almost never punished for such conduct. They are not punished by their bosses (the public), by state bar associations, they are not subject to criminal charges & they are immune from suits for damages.
In a 2011 article for the Fordham Law Review, Joel Rudin wrote that only one Bronx prosecutor found to have committed misconduct by appellate courts in 72 cases from 1975 through 1996 was ever disciplined by his superiors. None of the Queens prosecutors who handled 73 cases reversed by appellate courts between 1985 & 1998 based on misconduct even received a negative performance evaluation.
Principles NOT Parties says power granted is power abused. The public needs a way to hold prosecutors accountable to the rule of law. Granting public officials immunity encourages abuse.
"THERE IS NO Freestanding Constitutional 'Right Not To Be Framed.' " So states a brief filed by Iowa prosecutors hoping to persuade the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit against them for allegedly fabricating evidence that led to the 25-year incarceration of two innocent men." Washington Post
Under the US Supreme Court's 1963 Brady v. Maryland decision, prosecutors must disclose any evidence that is material to either the guilt of the defendant or the severity of the alleged crime. In other words-evidence that would tend to exonerate or lessen the culpability of the accused must be turned over to defense attorneys by prosecutors.
In 1976, the Supreme Court held in Imbler v. Pachtman that prosecutors have absolute immunity from liability for their official actions during trial. They also have "qualified immunity" for their work outside of court.
"We have a broken system," said New York University professor Stephen Gillers. "We disbar lawyers for taking two hundred dollars from a client's escrow account, even if they return it. But there are rarely consequences for someone who has stolen someone else's due-process rights &...put an innocent person in jail."
"Calculating the full extent of prosecutorial misconduct can be difficult. More than 90% of criminal cases never go to trial, so the public has no way of knowing how prosecutors conduct themselves in the tens of thousands of cases every year that end in plea deals.
State appellate courts in theory the first check on misconduct allegations often criticize prosecutorial tactics but let convictions stand if they conclude the conduct did not decide the outcome of the case.
The damage from prosecutorial misconduct can be devastating, not only allowing guilty people to go free, but also putting innocents behind bars." Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica Reporter & Sergio Hernandez
Who Polices Prosecutors Who Abuse Their Authority? No one & they are almost never punished for such conduct. They are not punished by their bosses (the public), by state bar associations, they are not subject to criminal charges & they are immune from suits for damages.
In a 2011 article for the Fordham Law Review, Joel Rudin wrote that only one Bronx prosecutor found to have committed misconduct by appellate courts in 72 cases from 1975 through 1996 was ever disciplined by his superiors. None of the Queens prosecutors who handled 73 cases reversed by appellate courts between 1985 & 1998 based on misconduct even received a negative performance evaluation.
Principles NOT Parties says power granted is power abused. The public needs a way to hold prosecutors accountable to the rule of law. Granting public officials immunity encourages abuse.