Posted: January 21, 2011 - 6:14pm
Cjonline.com
The Justice Department has taken a nice first step toward ensuring that Americans aren’t victimized by powerful individuals who are supposed to be protecting them. Earlier this week, department officials announced they had created a new internal watchdog office to investigate federal prosecutors accused of misconduct. The goal of the office, known as the Professional Misconduct Review Unit, is to ensure that prosecutors are investigated quickly and that punishment is meted out more consistently in situations when misconduct is confirmed. A move toward tighter oversight is overdue. Earlier this month, an investigation by USA Today provided abundant evidence that the Justice Department’s existing oversight group, the Office of Professional Responsibility, wasn’t cutting it. The news organization found that the department cleared the vast majority of prosecutors who’d been hit with complaints about misconduct. The justification commonly given by federal officials in those cases that the prosecutors did not intentionally break the rules. What’s more troubling is that, even in cases when prosecutors were found to have intentionally committed wrongdoing, firings were rare. Most often, the cases resulted in reprimands, suspensions or agreements that allowed prosecutors to step down from their jobs with clean records. Even the founder of the Office of Professional Responsibility admitted, before he died in 2007, that the office needed to be abolished. He said a “history of delays and the bureaucratic layers superimposed on it” had made it ineffective. Getting prosecutors under control is a matter of critical importance. USA Today uncovered 201 cases over the last 14 years in which courts ruled that prosecutors had run afoul, including instances that resulted in innocent people being incarcerated and guilty individuals being released from custody. So it was encouraging to see the federal government take steps to get its house in order. That said, the upgrade in oversight will only be as good as it’s designed and implemented. Will the internal investigators be given proper authority and resources to do their work effectively? Have systems been put into place to ensure they’re held accountable for their actions? Only time will tell whether the new measure will help clean up the system. Still, it’s a comfort to know the Justice Department is working toward that goal.
