Prosecution Complex: America's Race to Convict and Its Impact on the Innocent

Medwed, Daniel S.

ISBN 10: 1479893080 / ISBN 13: 9781479893089

Published by NYU Press, 2013

About this Item

Seller Inventory # mon0004072926

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Prosecution Complex: America's Race to Convict and Its Impact on the Innocent
• Publisher: NYU Press
• Publication Date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1479893080
• ISBN 13: 9781479893089
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

American prosecutors are asked to play two roles within the criminal justice system: they are supposed to be ministers of justice whose only goals are to ensure fair trials—and they are also advocates of the government whose success rates are measured by how many convictions they get. Because of this second role, sometimes prosecutors suppress evidence in order to establish a defendant’s guilt and safeguard that conviction over time.

In Prosecution Complex, Daniel S. Medwed shows how prosecutors are told to lock up criminals and protect the rights of defendants. This double role creates an institutional “prosecution complex” that animates how district attorneys’ offices treat potentially innocent defendants at all stages of the process—and that can cause prosecutors to aid in the conviction of the innocent. Ultimately, Prosecution Complex shows how, while most prosecutors aim to do justice, only some hit that target consistently.

About the Author

Daniel S. Medwed is Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law and the 2013 recipient of the Robert D. Klein University Lectureship.