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Can A Good Person Be A Good Prosecutor?, Ellen Yaroshefsky
Can A Good Person Be A Good Prosecutor?, Ellen Yaroshefsky
Fordham Law Review Online
Most people who become prosecutors are honest and ethical public servants who take that job for varied reasons including protecting the community, assisting victims of crime, gaining trial experience, or enhancing future employment prospects and long-term political goals. Earnest and hard-working, these prosecutors bristle at the very question of whether a good person can be a good prosecutor. The question though is not about a good person and their motives or ethical compass, but about the role: What does it mean to be a good prosecutor especially in the era of mass incarceration?
The Necessity Of The Good Person Prosecutor, Jessica A. Roth
The Necessity Of The Good Person Prosecutor, Jessica A. Roth
Fordham Law Review Online
In a 2001 essay, Professor Abbe Smith asked the question whether a good person—i.e., a person who is committed to social justice—can be a good prosecutor. Although she acknowledged some hope that the answer to her question could be “yes,” Professor Smith concluded that the answer then was “no”—in part because she saw individual prosecutors generally as having very little discretion to “temper the harsh reality of the criminal justice system.” In this Online Symposium revisiting Professor Smith’s question seventeen years later, my answer to her question is “yes”—a good person can be a good prosecutor.
Revisiting Abbe Smith's Question, "Can A Good Person Be A Good Prosecutor?" In The Age Of Krasner And Sessions, Rebecca Roiphe
Revisiting Abbe Smith's Question, "Can A Good Person Be A Good Prosecutor?" In The Age Of Krasner And Sessions, Rebecca Roiphe
Fordham Law Review Online
In an article published over fifteen years ago, Georgetown Law Professor Abbe Smith argued that one cannot be a good person and a good prosecutor. In other words, if you are concerned with social justice, it would be selfdefeating to work in a prosecutor’s office. With Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the helm, the federal criminal justice system has changed since Smith wrote this article, in many ways for the worse. At the same time, in response to a powerful grass roots movement, the reformist approach to criminal justice has gained some ground. In this oddly polarized context, this essay …
A Defender's Take On "Good" Prosecutors, David E. Patton
A Defender's Take On "Good" Prosecutors, David E. Patton
Fordham Law Review Online
When Professor Abbe Smith asked “Can You Be a Good Person and a Good Prosecutor” in 2001 (and answered it mostly in the negative), she began a conversation that would result in me, a public defender, having to repeatedly answer the question from earnest law students and young lawyers. I haven’t yet forgiven Professor Smith. My first impulse when I’m asked the question is to hand out her home phone number. My second impulse is to answer: “Why are you asking me?” I’m a defense lawyer. Worse still, I am a public defender. I’m not, shall we say, naturally drawn …
Prosecutors Who Police The Police Are Good People, Vida B. Johnson
Prosecutors Who Police The Police Are Good People, Vida B. Johnson
Fordham Law Review Online
In 2001 Professor Abbe Smith asked if a person could be both a good prosecutor and a good person. Her answer was, essentially, “no.” My answer in 2018 is that only a prosecutor who focuses on the powerful, and particularly who is willing to prosecute police who do wrong, can be good.
The Progressive Prosecutor: An Imperative For Criminal Justice Reform, Angela J. Davis
The Progressive Prosecutor: An Imperative For Criminal Justice Reform, Angela J. Davis
Fordham Law Review Online
In a law review article written seventeen years ago, Professor Abbe Smith asked the question, “Can You Be a Good Person and a Good Prosecutor?” Professor Smith ultimately answered the question in the negative. Whether or not one agreed with her conclusion at the time, today we know that the answer to the question is “Yes.” Anyone who believes that good people cannot be good prosecutors assumes and accepts a model of prosecution based on harsh, punitive policies and practices that incarcerate as many people as possible for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that unjust model of prosecution is the …
Good Person, Good Prosecutor In 2018, Abbe Smith
Good Person, Good Prosecutor In 2018, Abbe Smith
Fordham Law Review Online
Nearly twenty years ago, I wrote an essay on the ethics of prosecution in a time of mass incarceration called “Can You Be a Good Person and a Good Prosecutor?”1 I am both pleased and perplexed that the essay, which caused some controversy at the time, continues to strike a chord—at least with the organizers of this online conversation. I appreciate the invitation to weigh in on whether you can be a good person and a good prosecutor in 2018.
Foreword: Can A Good Person Be A Good Prosecutor, Bruce A. Green
Foreword: Can A Good Person Be A Good Prosecutor, Bruce A. Green
Fordham Law Review Online
In 2001, Abbe Smith asked provocatively whether you can simultaneously be a good person and a good prosecutor, and she concluded that you cannot. The following online symposium, hosted by the Fordham Law Review Online, revisits Abbe Smith’s question. Even if she was right in 2001, is the answer the same seventeen years later? The problems of criminal justice in this country have in many ways gotten worse. But at the same time, one might argue, there is broader public acknowledgment of these problems, which has led to social movements such as the Innocence Movement and Black Lives Matter that …
Scientific Excellence In The Forensic Science Community, Alice R. Isenberg, Cary T. Oien
Scientific Excellence In The Forensic Science Community, Alice R. Isenberg, Cary T. Oien
Fordham Law Review Online
This Article was prepared as a companion to the Fordham Law Review Reed Symposium on Forensic Expert Testimony, Daubert, and Rule 702, held on October 27, 2017, at Boston College School of Law. The Symposium took place under the sponsorship of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules. For an overview of the Symposium, see Daniel J. Capra, Foreword: Symposium on Forensic Testimony, Daubert, and Rule 702, 86 Fordham L. Rev. 1459 (2018).
Scientific Validity And Error Rates: A Short Response To The Pcast Report, Ted Robert Hunt
Scientific Validity And Error Rates: A Short Response To The Pcast Report, Ted Robert Hunt
Fordham Law Review Online
This Article was prepared as a companion to the Fordham Law Review Reed Symposium on Forensic Expert Testimony, Daubert, and Rule 702, held on October 27, 2017, at Boston College School of Law. The Symposium took place under the sponsorship of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules. For an overview of the Symposium, see Daniel J. Capra, Foreword: Symposium on Forensic Testimony, Daubert, and Rule 702, 86 Fordham L. Rev. 1459 (2018).
The Reliability Of The Adversarial System To Assess The Scientific Validity Of Forensic Evidence, Andrew D. Goldsmith
The Reliability Of The Adversarial System To Assess The Scientific Validity Of Forensic Evidence, Andrew D. Goldsmith
Fordham Law Review Online
This Article was prepared as a companion to the Fordham Law Review Reed Symposium on Forensic Expert Testimony, Daubert, and Rule 702, held on October 27, 2017, at Boston College School of Law. The Symposium took place under the sponsorship of the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules. For an overview of the Symposium, see Daniel J. Capra, Foreword: Symposium on Forensic Testimony, Daubert, and Rule 702, 86 Fordham L. Rev. 1459 (2018).