Whom Do Prosecutors Protect?

Abstract

Prosecutors regard themselves as public servants who fight crime and increase community safety on behalf of their constituents. But prosecutors do not only seek to protect those they are supposed to serve. Instead, prosecutors often trade community safety, privacy, and even the constitutional rights of the general public to enlarge police power. Prosecutors routinely advocate for weaker public rights, shield police from public accountability, and fail to prosecute police when they break the law.

This Article will show how prosecutors often protect police at the expense of the public. This Article suggests a novel theory of evaluating the conduct of traditional prosecutors, not just as actors seeking to protect the community, but also as advocates for heightened police and governmental power.

Keywords: criminal law, criminal procedure, prosecutors, police, government power

JEL Classification: K10, K14