Essay On Duke Lacrosse

Nifong and the Duke Lacrosse case highlight several key institutional failures of the justice system in regards to prosecutorial discretion, prosecutor accountability, and the prosecutors dilemma.

Prosecutors are considered by many to be the most powerful actors in the courtroom proceedings as they follow the case from the time of arrest to the sentencing. Prosecutors have a lot of discretion in the justice process as they are the ones who decide: Do I prosecute? Who do I prosecute? What charges should I bring forward? and what evidence is necessary to the case? In the example of Duke Lacrosse, Nifong was attempting to prosecute several Duke lacrosse players for an alleged rape of a black stripper, Crystal Magnum. In his search for evidence,

Prosecutor accountability is a common cause for prosecutorial misconduct because the prosecutor has this immunity and also does not have an overhead boss to regulate them. The District Attorney's office is one of the most compartmentalized branches of the justice system, and this allows for much of their work to be out of the public eye -- making it hard for other people to hold them accountable and giving him wiggle-room with the cases they work on. Nifong was held accountable for his actions, however, this is much more likely attributed to the high profile of the case, the serious nature of the exclusion of necessary exculpatory evidence, and the Alan-Gell case that happened prior to the Duke Lacrosse case making sanctions in NC more serious. He messed up on a case that was very high on the Criminal Justice wedding cake, and when that happens, a lot of people see that mistake, and when a lot of people see a mistake, politicians take more severe action than they normally would have to fix it to appeal to the

The prosecutor's dilemma refers to the fact the District Attorneys and prosecutors are elected officials who must appeal to their constituents and the public ideals so that they can continue being elected; however, this sometimes interferes with the official role of the District Attorney which is to seek justice in the courtroom by the rules of the law. Nifong was running for District Attorney, and knew that if he prosecuted those lacrosse players in such a high-profile case, this would likely be the edge he needed to win his election. In attempt to appeal to his voters, Nifong stretched the truth and withheld evidence as to bolster his case and make him look stronger. Not to mention, if he had brought the lab findings forward, he would have had to admit that he had been wrong throughout the entire case thus far,, which would look bad politically. So, rather than admitting he was wrong, Nifong pursued the case even further to further his political interests, which detracted from his more important goal of seeking justice and truth. Ultimately, Nifong proved in a more extreme example how the prosecutor's dilemma and political influence in the justice system can corrupt individuals -- as every government official is a rational actor who seeks re-election in order to maintain status and power, and unfortunately, sometimes this rationality leads to violations of