Posts tagged prosecution
Bonus: Cue the Grand Jury

Grand juries are a handy tool for prosecutors, providing a ready pretext for any potentially controversial decision to bring charges or, as is often the case with police accused of crimes, not bring charges. Do grand jury proceedings serve any purpose, or are they just theater? Dave explains on 90.5 WESA's The Confluence.

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#136: The Unlikely Philly DA

In the US, the local prosecutor – usu the district attorney has a huge influence on the criminal system. The DA influences who gets prosecuted, for what, how long they serve if convicted – even who gets the death penalty. So what happens when the usual tough on crime DA gets replaced – by someone determined to bring transformational change to prosecution?

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Read This: America's Most Prolific Snitch

Florida may soon execute a man convicted of murder largely on the testimony of another man with whom he shared a jail cell. The problem? The informant, an ex-cop, has a decades-long long record of fraud and deception. A joint report by ProPublica and the New York Times Magazine says Paul Skalnik may be one of the most prolific jailhouse snitches in the country. But the use of such informants to bolster flimsy cases is widespread.

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Teaser: The Three Kamala Harrises

To understand Sen. Kamala Harris's criminal justice positions, you have to look at each of the three distinct phases of her career: politically ambitious prosecutor in San Francisco, controversial "top cop" AG of California, and Democratic primary contender lurching leftward as consensus shifts on the issues that defined her. Which is the real Harris?

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Bonus: The Attack on Elected District Attorneys

As reform-minded elected prosecutors gain power across the U.S., they’re increasingly coming under fire from their federal counterparts — most recently, an anti-democratic tirade by U.S. Attorney Bill Barr, who attacked progressive district attorneys for doing what voters elected them to do.

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#102 Prosecution at the Crossroads (reprise)

American prosecutors have always been powerful figures in our justice system: they decide the charges, and offer the plea bargains. But our guest says they have become far too powerful – resulting in mass incarceration and the wrecking of human lives over trivial offenses.

Emily Bazelon, best-selling author and a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, says it’s time for this to change. She’s the author of “Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Criminal Justice and End Mass Incarceration.”

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Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Banks?

Two very different views on how and when to prosecute financial fraudsters and corporate criminals: Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says plausible deniability makes it all but impossible to go after high-level executives like those who caused the 2008 housing collapse and ensuing crises. Others, like journalist Jesse Eisinger and Bharara’s own SDNY predecessor (one James Comey), say effective deterrence means taking on tough cases even when there’s a risk of losing.

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Bonus: When Prosecuting Cops, Nothing's a Slam Dunk


Michael Rosfeld, the former East Pittsburgh police officer seen on video shooting 17-year-old Antwon Rose in the back as he runs away, has been found not guilty of the unarmed teen's murder. While Friday's verdict angered many and surprised some, it's only the latest in a long string of cases demonstrating the near-impossibility, under current statute and case law, of successfully prosecuting police officers for homicide.

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