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A Proposed Check On The Charging Discretion Of Wisconsin Prosecutors, Wayne A. Logan

Scholarly Publications

With the emergence of the increasingly vocal victims' rights movement and a more general punitive emphasis in criminal justice, the issue of prosecutorial discretion in the decision of whether to charge a suspect with a crime has assumed paramount importance. In two recent cases the Wisconsin Supreme Court addressed the fundamental question of whether it is the responsibility of the local prosecutor or the court to charge a suspect with a crime. This Comment examines these two cases, Unnamed Petitioners v. Connors, decided in 1987, and State v. Unnamed Defendant, decided in 1989. The Comment concludes that the charging mechanism …