In 1999, Edward Humes published Mean Justice detailing a factual account of how corrupt prosecutors can run amok and destroy innocent lives and communities. Now a DA is suggesting that prosecutors who withhold evidence that might aid a defendant be penalized, perhaps even imprisoned.
A district attorney whose office leads the nation in wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing says prosecutors who intentionally withhold evidence from the defense should face criminal charges or other harsh sanctions.
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said he’s considering a campaign to mandate disbarment of any prosecutor who doesn’t reveal evidence that could help a defendant. The worst offenders might deserve prison time, he said.
“Something should be done,” Watkins told The Dallas Morning News in an interview published in Sunday’s editions. “If the harm is a great harm, yes, it should be criminalized.”
Amen to that! Nothing is more harmful to a society than bad law enforcement and bad prosecutors and bad judges. Whether it is incompetence or corruption, these people that hand out blemished justice create more enemies of the state than we will ever know.
I will not be voting for Paul Frasier for Coos County DA and I will be writing much more on the topic of Frasier and his policies in the future. Don’t check that box on your ballot or write-in ANYONE else… he will still win but he should not have any voter confidence behind.
