The key to the growing prominence of prosecutors, both in the United States and elsewhere, lies in the prosecutor’s preeminent ability to bridge organizational and conceptual divides in criminal justice.

Apr 5, 2018 · Prosecutors have the power to flood jails and prisons, ruin lives, and deepen racial disparities with the stroke of a pen. But they also have the discretion to do the opposite. This video explores the power of prosecutors to continue to drive mass incarceration — or end it.

Mar 15, 2023 · Research, empirical evidence, and judicial findings reveal a seedy underbelly where individuals who wield immense power cause nearly as much damage to individuals and the rule of law as any number of criminal defendants. For decades, prosecutors have ruled the criminal justice system with near absolute power.

Prosecutors are the most powerful officials in the American criminal justice system. The decisions they make, particularly the charging and plea-bargaining decisions, control the operation of the system and often predetermine the outcome of criminal cases.

This Article applies a critical lens to longstanding claims of prosecutorial preeminence. It reveals a curious echo chamber enabled by a puzzling lack of dissent. With few voices challenging ever-more-strident prosecutor-dominance rhetoric, academic claims became uncritical, imprecise, and ultimately incorrect.

Over seventy-five years ago, Attorney General Robert Jackson famously proclaimed that the “prosecutor has more control over life, lib-erty, and reputation than any other person in America.”

May 2, 2019 · In one of the most cited law review articles of all time, Bill Stuntz added that prosecutors—not legislators, judges, or police—“are the criminal justice system’s real lawmakers.” And an unchallenged modern consensus holds that prosecutors “rule the criminal justice system.”

Sep 25, 2023 · Can you explain that a little bit, how that works, and why you think that the prosecutors have so much power? JOE PLATANIA: There is a tremendous amount of power vested in the prosecutor. And that comes from charging decisions and plea agreements—how cases are charged and resolved.

Mar 6, 2024 · Prosecutors have the power to advocate for different methods of bail to be used. Personal bonds allow defendants to attest through a signed agreement that they will show up for scheduled hearings. Other options include GPS or electronic monitoring.

For decades, legal commentators sounded the alarm about the tremendous power wielded by prosecutors. Scholars went so far as to identify uncurbed prosecutorial discretion as the primary source of the criminal justice system’s many flaws. Over the past two years, however, the conversation shifted.