The Role of the Prosecutor in our Criminal Justice System

The Prosecutor, the District Attorney or in our case, the State’s Attorney has enormous power within our Legal and Justice System: they decide which cases are brought against criminal defendants in the District Courts; they decide which charges to bring; they decide the plea bargains to enter; they decide on sentences, they are the officers who are responsible for the police and the conduct of the police in our communities. Because of that power, Prosecutors are elected by the people and have strict ethical duties to represent all the people of our counties including the defendant, they ultimately have the responsibility of seeing that justice as well as punishment is accomplished by the legal system. Unlike the defense attorneys who represent the individual accused of crimes and have the duty of providing a zealous defense for those individuals, prosecutors represent the people or the State of Vermont.

The discussion will…