Opinion

We asked lawyers and attorneys around town what they think about prosecutorial discretion.

Former Prosecutor

“Do I think we should have it? ABSOLUTELY. It’s hard because there can be abuses, but as a prosecutor it’s important that you believe in your case and also have the discretion to make choices about how a case will move forward. If you are forced to take a case to trial that you don’t think should be there for a variety of reasons, you are wasting resources, time, and potentially causing a lot of emotional anguish that may not result in the outcome everyone wants.”

Public Defender - Appellate Division

It’s not good “if the prosecutor is an a**hole.”

Former Federal Public Defender Clerk

“Like everything else in the CJ field, it’s subject to bias of the prosecutor and leads to disproportionate effects on marginalized groups. For those who want to change the system from within it’s hard because by the time they get to a point in their career where they actually have the discretion (not being pressured by a higher up) they will have already prosecuted many crimes they don’t necessarily think they should have.”

Lawyer

“Basically prosecutorial discretion is what screwed my dad over in his felony case and the whole reason I avoid criminal law like the plague.”