Prosecutorial Accountability

Prosecutorial overreaching and misconduct distort the truth-finding process and taint the credibility of the criminal justice system, including the outcomes they generate. When prosecutors’ fundamental obligations are ignored and individuals’ rights are violated in order to secure a conviction, little can be done to rectify the wrongs inflicted upon the individuals involved and on the system itself.

Michael Heiskell's Open Letter Concerning Prosecutorial Accountability

Government Accountability Office, Report to Congressional Committees, Professional Misconduct: DOJ Could Strengthen Procedures for Disciplining Its Attorneys (December 2014)

Seminar Co-Chair Gerald H. Goldstein moderating a panel on prosecutorial misconduct at NACDL's 6th Annual Defending the White Collar Case Seminar held in New York City in September 2010. NACDL is dedicated to attaining meaningful, systemic reform to help prevent the insidious harm caused when a prosecutor carelessly, or purposefully, fails in his or her duties to us all. Prosecutorial overreaching and misconduct distort the truth-finding process and taint the credibility of the criminal justice system, including the outcomes they generate. When prosecutors’ fundamental obligations are ignored and individuals’ rights are violated in order to secure a conviction, little can be done to rectify the wrongs inflicted upon the individuals involved and on the system itself.

So long as this prosecutorial misconduct plagues the criminal justice system, NACDL will be on the frontlines seeking to enact effective barriers to such conduct and to ensure the rights of affected individuals are protected.

For more information on NACDL's work to provide the victims of prosecutorial misconduct with relief, read NACDL's Board Resolution regarding Reform of the Hyde Amendment and the White Collar Crime Committee Report on Reform the Hyde Amendment.

Additional resources on prosecutorial misconduct and possible reform

Pictured above: Seminar Co-Chair Gerald H. Goldstein moderating a panel on prosecutorial misconduct at NACDL's 6th Annual Defending the White Collar Case Seminar held in New York City in September 2010.

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News Releases

News Release ~ 01/17/2018

Department of Justice Successfully Blocks Public Access to Its Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book – Washington, D.C. (Jan. 17, 2018) – Earlier today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed notice of its decision not to appeal the release of an extremely limited portion of its Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book. The portion of the Blue Book that the Court found was not work product was a tiny fraction – what amounts to not much more than a handful of pages – out of a manual that contains at least 265 pages.
News Release ~ 12/20/2016

U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit Denies Rehearing and En Banc Review as DOJ Continues Effort to Keep Its Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book From Being Disclosed to the American Public; Panel Modifies Opinion and Remands to District Court -- Washington, DC (Dec. 20, 2016) – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit denied NACDL's petition both for a rehearing and en banc review following the July 19, 2016, decision of a three-judge panel...
News Release ~ 07/15/2015

Nation's Criminal Defense Bar Continues Push for Public Disclosure of the Department of Justice Discovery Blue Book--Washington, DC (July 15, 2015) – Today, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) brought its years-long effort to secure the public release of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Federal Criminal Discovery Blue Book to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, filing its opening brief this afternoon.

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Prosecutorial Misconduct

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