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A new breed of reform-minded prosecutors tells their stories about the challenges and successes of making change from inside the system Growing up in Chicago’s Cabrini-Green housing projects, Kim Foxx never anticipated that she would become the chief prosecutor in the country’s second-biggest county. When Chesa Boudin was a baby, his parents were arrested and incarcerated. Visiting them in prison for decades helped shape his convictions about what justice does—and doesn’t—look like in the United States. Now, along with eleven other reform-minded prosecutors voters put in office throughout the country, they reflect on the task they set for themselves: making change from within. Using the power of their office, which has traditionally fueled mass incarceration and harsh punishments, this new breed of elected prosecutors has joined the movement to shake up the justice system. In Change from Within , these visionaries describe their journeys to office, what they are doing to change “business as usual,” the pushback they’ve experienced, and their thoughts on reforms that are possible working from the inside. Published in partnership with Fair and Just Prosecution (FJP), drawing from interviews conducted by FJP executive director Miriam Krinsky, a former federal prosecutor, this unprecedented book includes intensely personal first-person profiles of thirteen transformative DAs. Each story is accompanied by an image inspired by the prosecutor and created by a formerly incarcerated artist.

Purpose The majority of individuals diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) will become involved with the criminal justice system during their lifetime. Due to the signs and symptoms of their illness, the psycholegal impairments presented by such alleged offenders pose unique challenges for the attorneys tasked with prosecuting their crimes. That said, little is known about the training and courtroom background of district attorneys with this population. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach A web-based survey was developed to investigate the knowledge bases and legal experiences of US District Attorneys concerning FASD, and to compare these across sexes, legal experience levels, as well as geographical regions. The survey was distributed electronically to all US District Attorneys following the Dillman Total Design Method. Surveys were completed by 216 respondents (men, n=166; women, n=50; Northeast, n=32; South, n=102; Midwest, n=36; West, n=46) with an average of 25.03 years (SD=10.71) of legal experience. Findings Participants displayed variable levels of knowledge concerning the signs and symptoms of FASD and underestimated how often persons with FASD become involved in the criminal justice system. The majority of participants had never received training on the psycholegal impairments of individuals diagnosed with FASD and reported that they would benefit from a Continuing Legal Education course on the subject. Participants also reported that they would benefit from seeing the findings of an FASD screening tool in daily practice. Originality/value First survey of legal professionals’ perceptions of FASD.

Based on an analysis of over one million felony charges disposed in North Carolina courts during the 1990s, this paper describes the effects of district attorney elections on criminal case outcomes. Defendants face a higher probability of conviction and a lower probability of having all charges dismissed in an election year. The results suggest that in election years, DAs are more likely to prosecute cases that might otherwise be dismissed. The estimated effects are more pronounced for defendants charged with property or drug crimes than for defendants charged with violent crimes, and more pronounced in districts with more electoral competition.

This exclusive documentary follows the culmination of a 32-year fight for justice in a notorious unsolved double child murder. On 9 October 1986, nine-year-old friends Karen Hadaway and Nicola Fellows went out to play and didn't come home. The whole estate turned out to look for the two girls only to have their hopes dashed when they were found lying dead in undergrowth in Wild Park, on the outskirts of Brighton. Both had been strangled and sexually assaulted. For their families it was the start of a living hell. Police arrested a man the girls liked and trusted - 2-year-old Russell Bishop - and in 1987 he was put on trial. But the jury took less than two hours to acquit him of the murders. Under the law at the time, Bishop could not be retried even if new evidence were to be found. The families of the murdered girls had to endure years of agony, without any prospect of justice for their lost children. Until 25, when the double jeopardy law was abolished, rekindling the hopes of the families. Now police and scientists are using cutting-edge methods to uncover new evidence, which they hope will be enough for the CPS to pursue a fresh prosecution. Following the reinvestigation and proceedings from an early stage, and sharing the experience of the children's families, this film charts the last chance at finally finding justice for Karen and Nicola.

Prosecutors face criticism for prosecuting too many minority members and too few police. Recently, some reformers have won prosecutorial elections by pledging to change these priorities. Yet scholars have identified two impediments to police prosecutions. First, county prosecutors often answer to suburban voters indifferent to the excesses of city police. Second, prosecutors depend on those police to investigate their cases and to endorse them as effective. This Article argues that the influence of residents and police on prosecutorial decisions depends on the political geography of a prosecutor's office. As a result, whether a prosecutor's office is \"city-based,\" \"regional,\" or \"state-appointed\" shapes a prosecutor's motivation and decision to prosecute police. Examining nationwide data on charging police, we find that prosecutors are indeed more likely to prosecute police when a greater proportion of their constituents are served by the same police department. This effect is further amplified at higher levels of Black (but not Hispanic) residency. Case studies of specific prosecutorial districts suggest an explanation for this finding. Urban party organizations and Black civil society networks offer a political infrastructure for mobilizing residents against the abuses of police departments. The degree and impact of this mobilization is greater when more of the prosecutor's constituents fall under the same police jurisdiction, especially when the prosecutor relies on the same political infrastructure to win elections.

Filmed over a year with behind-the-scenes access to the CPS and West Mercia Police, this film follows senior crown prosecutor Eran Cutliffe as she works to build an extraordinarily complex case against a network of people both inside and outside prisons who use drone technology to exploit a captive market. Drugs are big business in prisons. On the inside they can can fetch four times their street value, and serving time can become a business opportunity for the kingpin convicts who rule their prison wings. Although prisoners don't have access to funds themselves, family members can pay off the debts their drug-addicted loved ones are racking up on the inside. But to prosecute the offenders, police need evidence of who's involved on the inside and who is flying the packages in. This film follows the investigation and prosecution of an astonishingly prolific criminal gang that uses drones to deliver drugs direct to cell windows at prisons across the UK. Police uncover evidence revealing the precision and frequency of drugs deliveries made by this audacious gang. CCTV footage outside and inside prison helps the prosecution team to piece together who is involved and establish the role of each person within the conspiracy. How the gang is getting paid for the drugs is a conundrum for Eran and the team, but 'following the money' eventually yields dividends. With insights behind the scenes at court, we see how deals are made and the tensions between gang members charged together in a conspiracy.

It's not just parties to litigation who forum shop. Sometimes judges forum sell by trying to attract cases to their courts. This judicial competition for cases has been documented in areas ranging from bankruptcy to antitrust to, most infamously, patent law. Despite the ubiquity of judicial case-seeking behavior, one important question remains unanswered: why? Why do judges- particularly federal district judges, who enjoy life tenure and are paid fixed salaries-seek out more work, especially in cases that can be quite complex? This Article answers that question by developing a first-of-its-kind model of Judicial behavior in the context of court competition. The incentives judges act on, we argue, range from the seemingly innocuous, such as intellectual interest in or prior experience with particular types of cases, to the definitely pernicious, such as economic benefits for the local bar, community, and even the judges themselves. Somewhere in between are the human desires for fame and adulation that come with being known as the expert on a given topic and the satisfaction of making decisions that are consistent with one's normative beliefs about the world. The federal courts are facing threats to their legitimacy. Case-seeking activity by district judges further undermines public faith in (and the efficiency of) the litigation system. We conclude the Article by outlining legal reforms that would incentivize judges to work hard on cases they find interesting without perpetuating the biases endemic in the current \"free market\" of court competition.

The nature of crime in the UK is changing, and countering the complex offending of organized criminal groups is one of the biggest challenges prosecutors face. This film follows Eran Cutliffe - a senior prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service - over nearly two years, as she tries to build a case that will break new legal ground. What she is tackling is happening in plain sight up and down the UK's high streets: child trafficking and exploitation. In gang-run nail bars, unsuspecting customers are having their nails painted by underage Vietnamese girls who have arrived to the UK in containers or lorries and are moved around the country to work as slaves. Children found by police and immigration officers at nail bars are placed into foster care, but they often run away and return to the network - making it even harder for the authorities to help them and to bring those exploiting them to justice. The Modern Slavery Act was passed in 215 in a bid to tackle new forms of slavery, but the way in which the new law deals with the exploitation of children has never before been tested in court. For this landmark case, Eran joins forces with barrister and human trafficking expert Caroline Haughey and, as the case grows, the pair work together with Staffordshire and Avon and Somerset police. As illegal immigrants with no other options, the girls found in the nail bars do not talk about themselves as victims and say they are happy to be fed, housed and work for free. As Eran hears more accounts from the girls, the similarities between their stories make her suspect that the network is coaching the girls in what to say if they are questioned by the police. How do you bring a prosecution when the victims are missing or their credibility as witnesses is drastically undermined? This film reveals the complexity of the puzzle the police and CPS must piece together as they attempt to get to the very heart of a criminal gang who trade children as commodities.