SNEK POLICY
Prosecutors Have Enormous Power. Treat It That Way.
Prosecutors can decide whether someone faces charges, enormous defense costs, a plea bargain, or prison. That authority requires an unusually high professional standard.
Protect reasonable judgment
Losing a case is not misconduct. A reasonable legal judgment that turns out to be wrong is not misconduct. Prosecutors need room to make difficult good-faith decisions.
Intentional abuse is different
Knowingly hiding exculpatory evidence, fabricating evidence, knowingly using false testimony, deliberately misleading a court, corruption, retaliatory prosecution, or comparable intentional abuse should expose a prosecutor to professional discipline, civil consequences, and criminal consequences when the conduct itself constitutes a crime.
Independent review
Serious sustained findings should be publicly searchable. A resignation should not make the record disappear.
When prosecutorial misconduct may have contributed to a wrongful conviction, an independent investigation should examine the prosecutor’s conduct rather than leaving the matter entirely to the same office.
FULL POLICY DETAILS
The longer version
Why SNEK thinks this
Prosecutors can decide what charges to bring, what evidence to disclose, what plea offers to make, and whether a person faces years of incarceration. SNEK believes intentional abuse of that power should be treated at least as seriously as comparable misconduct by police, lawyers, or other public officials.
How it would work
Intentional concealment of material evidence, fabrication, knowingly misleading a court, coercive misconduct, or other deliberate violations should trigger independent investigation outside the prosecutor’s normal chain of command. Final findings should be public and searchable. Consequences can include professional discipline, removal, civil liability, and criminal prosecution when the underlying conduct itself is criminal.
Where SNEK leaves room
SNEK is not proposing punishment every time a prosecutor loses a case, makes a debatable judgment call, or commits an ordinary good-faith mistake. The strongest consequences are aimed at knowing, reckless, or intentional misconduct. The process must still provide due process to the accused prosecutor.
Related SNEK policies
A Right to an Attorney Has to Mean a Real Defense • Compensate the Wrongfully Convicted