Prosecutorial Ethics As Usual

Abstract:     
Prosecutors have different responsibilities and serve different roles than other attorneys. Professor Green argues that the prosecutor's duty to "seek justice" should give rise to a host of particular professional responsibilities that are different from those of other lawyers. However, the Ethics 2000 Commission declined to augment prosecutors' special responsibilities and did not expand any of the existing provisions of Model Rule 3.8. Professor Green explores the rationale for the Commission's inaction, and concludes that the inaction cannot be explained on substantive grounds but rather was motivated by political and procedural considerations. He believes that new rules governing prosecutorial ethics should be drafted, with substantial input from the judiciary, because Rule 3.8 is not the best of all possible rules of prosecutorial ethics.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 33

Accepted Paper Series