“The Cure for the Cynical Prosecutors’ Syndrome: Rethinking a Prosecutor’s Role in Post-Conviction Cases” by Laurie L. Levenson of the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles was recently published by the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law. The abstract reads:
One of the biggest challenges facing the criminal justice system is dealing with the growing tide of post-conviction petitions claiming wrongful conviction. Each year, the number of exonerees grows. In 2014, an unprecedented 125 exonerations were recorded in the United States. In analyzing how post-conviction matters are handled, it becomes apparent that one of the key roadblocks to remedying these injustices is not, as some have suggested, the attitude of young prosecutors. Rather, senior prosecutors also suffer from a type of “Cynical Prosecutors’ Syndrome” that impairs their ability to play a constructive role in the exoneration process. This article discusses the role of prosecutors in the post-conviction process, analyzes current studies of prosecutorial attitudes, and proposes reforms to ensure that meritorious post-conviction challenges are handled properly.
You can download the full article here.
Wrongful Convictions Blog 
Excellent and timely article. The recent Symposium “In the Interest of Justice: Conviction Review Programs” held at the Northern California Innocence Project, Sept. 25, 2015 had a multi-panel, all day long discussion. Prosecutors have an ethical responsibility, as ministers of justice, to seek fair justice long after the conviction, was the common theme, with the many prosecutors who attended agreeing.
Tens of thousands of innocent men, women and children have been languishing for decades in prisons, probation or parole across America – under control by the government – wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ dollars and lost lives. These processes and deliberate indifference to fair justice and human beings lives, are self-destructing America.
Who is a hero among us when they have ALL the money, ALL the resources and ALL the power, and have absolute immunity and choose to look the other way? I weep for the mass destruction of innocent and non-violent lives, families and communities in America “land of the free” (a myth?). Restore our freedom and liberty or get-rid of the “feel-good” slogan being questioned around the world!
Reblogged this on Wrongly Convicted Group Website and commented:
Perhaps a name-change might help – “State Justice Attorneys” rather than “Prosecutors”. Language and words can influence beliefs.
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