'Justice and Prosecutorial Misconduct'

Today's New York Times includes a staff editorial focused on Judge Ken Anderson's role in Michael Morton's false conviction out of Williamson County. Opined the Times, "While this process is an urgent matter for Mr. Morton, it is also a test of American justice — whether a prosecutor who flouts his duty under the Constitution to disclose crucial evidence to a defendant is subject to any meaningful sanction." They acknowledge, though, that it's a test that's been long-ago, many-times failed, as "bar associations hardly ever punish this behavior; judges seldom discipline prosecutors for such violations; and criminal sanctions are rarely imposed against prosecutors."

The Times recommends that "Courts should more closely supervise prosecutors by using pretrial conferences  where prosecutors must say what they are disclosing under the Brady rule and what they are withholding. Prosecutors must understand that they will be held accountable — with strong criminal sanctions — when they violate their constitutional duties." Criminal sanctions, to me, though, are mostly pointless because there's no one except the DA's offices themselves with jurisdiction to prosecute such cases and no incentive for them to do so aggressively. OTOH, I like the pretrial conference idea, and will henceforth add that to the grab bag of suggested legislative solutions which Grits has been compiling on the subject.