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Controversy in Queens

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2022

Publication Title

ABA Criminal Justice

Abstract

Well-documented prosecutorial misconduct has long been recognized as a serious problem in our criminal justice system. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, prosecutorial misconduct, such as concealing exculpatory evidence, witness tampering, and misconduct at trial, occurred in 30 percent of exonerations. Prosecutorial misconduct is currently a potent source of criticism of our criminal justice system and a focal point in calls for reform. Compounding this concern is the equally well-documented reality that ethics authorities across the country rarely discipline prosecutors who have engaged in misconduct that violates well-established ethic rules. A current controversy in the borough of Queens in New York City exemplifies and illustrates the symbiotic phenomena of prosecutorial misconduct and lack of professional discipline. From 2001 to 2011, there were 30 New York state and federal court decisions overturning convictions explicitly because of prosecutorial misconduct, and the grievance committees publicly disciplined only one of the prosecutors identified by a court to have committed misconduct. Twenty-one current and former prosecutors from Queens were publicly identified by judges to have committed misconduct. Despite the fact that these instances of misconduct were established and announced publicly by a court of law after a contested adversarial process, none have been disciplined. Rather, they continue to practice law in New York. Some still work as prosecutors, and, of those, some have been promoted. The problematic nature of this situation in Queens is even further compounded by the fact that disciplinary investigations and other proceedings in New York, unlike those in the vast majority of states, are secret.

Keywords

Legal Ethics, Professional Responsibility, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Lawyer Discipline

Publication Citation

Peter A. Joy & Kevin C. McMunigal, Controversy in Queens, 37 ABA Criminal Justice 56 (2022)

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