In continuing the theme of the US judicial system “healing itself,” this 19 page summary report (published in 2010 by the NorCal Innocence Project; funded by the Veritas Initiative ) on the 1997 to 2009 history of California’s feeble (actually its worse than that) recognition that prosecutorial injustice even exists, let alone deserving of punishment.
Noted co-author is Pulitzer honoree Maurice Possley who is now reporting at The Marshall Project. Kathleen M. Ridolfi is the primary author.
A seminal event preceeding the Veritas report was the 1999 Chicago Tribune 5 part series, done by Ken Armstrong, Maurice Possley, and ChiTrib staffers entitled…. “Trial and error. how prosecutors sacrifice justice to win.”
In a rather ironic statement, the front matter of the Veritas report begins with:
The responsibility of a public prosecutor differs from that of the usual advocate; his
duty is to seek justice, not merely to convict. – American Bar Association
Preventable Error – History of Prosecutorial Misconduct in California
It is difficult to over emphasize the efforts of these dedicated journalists and legal researchers who have carried the flag for judicial reform in the United States.
