NACDL - The Human Cost of Brady Violations: The Need for Meaningful Discovery Reform

The Human Cost of Brady Violations: The Need for Meaningful Discovery Reform

Nearly fifty years ago, in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), the Supreme Court recognized the constitutional importance of providing a person accused of a crime with any and all favorable information that might affect the case. This decision established certain constitutional obligations for prosecutors during the pre-trial information sharing process known as “discovery.” These are the stories of real people whose lives were dramatically harmed by the government’s failure to comply with the constitutional demands of Brady.