Power in Prosecuting: The Choices One Person Makes in the System

Justice Talks in Wyoming

This week, Cody Duran hosts Professor Darrell Jackson, J.D., Ph. D. a Professor of Law and the Faculty Director of the Prosecution Assistance Program at the University of Wyoming College of Law. Professor Jackson discusses a wide range of issues in the criminal trial process, and how a prosecutor’s power and role fits into that process. The discretion given to a prosecutor strikes a balance in power between the prosecutor and the judge, and the prosecutor is the first in line to determine whether and how a case will proceed. This episode discusses how implicit biases and institutionalized disparities affect the decision-making process at each phase of the trial.
Sources:

Research Finds Evidence of Racial Bias in Plea Deals, Equal Justice Initiative (https://eji.org/news/research-finds-racial-disparities-in-plea-deals/)

William Rhodes, Ryan Kling, Jeremy Luallen, Christina Dyous, Federal Sentencing Disparity: 2005–2012, Bureau of Justice Statistics (https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fsd0512.pdf)

Joshua Dressler, George C. Thomas III, Daniel S. Medwed, Criminal Procedure: Principles, Policies, and Perspectives (7th Ed.)