Whom Do Prosecutors Protect?

Authors

Vida Johnson, Georgetown University Law CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2024

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.

Publication Citation

Boston University Law Review, Vol. 104, No. 2, 2024, Pp. 289-344.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Johnson, Vida, "Whom Do Prosecutors Protect?" (2024). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 2592.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2592