CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON THE FAIR ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE RECOMMENDS ACCOUNTABILITY OF PROSECUTORS AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS
The following synopsis from the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice on making prosecutors responsible for misconduct (because they never are) is great in theory, but will judges really ever follow it? I don't think so. But we can always hope. Read on...
October 19, 2007
FROM: CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON THE FAIR ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON THE FAIR ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE ISSUES
REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND
ACCOUNTABILITY OF PROSECUTORS AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS.
The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice,
created by the California State Senate to examine the causes of
wrongful convictions and make recommendations and proposals to
further insure that the administration of criminal justice in
California is just, fair and accurate, released its sixth report and
recommendation today, addressing the problems of professional
responsibility and accountability of prosecutors and criminal defense
lawyers. The Commission concluded there was a serious problem of
underreporting of misconduct and incompetence of prosecutor and
criminal defense lawyers to the California State Bar, and recommended
a new Rule of Court and an amendment of the Canons of Judicial Ethics
to address the problem. The recommended amendment would identify
examples of egregious misconduct that should be reported to the State
Bar by judges, regardless of whether the misconduct resulted in a
modification or reversal of a judgment.
The Commission recommendations gained the full support of twenty
members of the Commission, with two members, District Attorney Jim
Fox of San Mateo County and District Attorney Greg Totten of Ventura
County, dissenting in part. The Commission is chaired by former
California Attorney General John Van de Kamp, and includes a broad
spectrum of prosecution, defense, police and victim representatives.
The Commission's recommendations were based upon reports and research
done for the Commission by Law Professors Laurie Levenson of Loyola
Law School, Larry Benner of California Western Law School, and Cookie
Ridolfi of Santa Clara University School of Law. A public hearing was
convened in Los Angeles on July 11, 2007 to hear the testimony of
experts and representatives of police, prosecutor and criminal
defense agencies.
The Commission will continue its deliberations, examining issues
related to the funding of defense services in California, policies
governing compliance with constitutional requirements for the
availability of exculpatory evidence, and remedies for wrongful
convictions and access to post-conviction testing. The Commission
will also examine the administration of the death penalty in
California, convening hearings next year in Sacramento on January 10,
Los Angeles on February 13, and Santa Clara on March 28. The
Commission is scheduled to issue its final report in June, 2008.
CONTACT: Gerald F. Uelmen, Executive Director
Tel. 408-554-5002
Fax 408-554-5026
Email guelmen@scu.edu
