Law Commons^™

In Search Of The Virtuous Prosecutor: A Conceptual Framework, Stanley Z. Fisher

Faculty Scholarship

Questions about the scope and content of the duty to "seek justice" pervade prosecutorial work. Prosecutors are required to serve in a dual role: they are both advocates seeking conviction and "ministers of justice." Observers have complained about a tendency on the part of prosecutors to prefer the former of these "schizophrenic" obligations to the latter. This is commonly described as a tendency to behave overzealously or according to a "conviction psychology. ' "