Prerequisite: None

Exam Type: No Exam
Students will write reaction papers for each class.

Prosecutors are dominant actors in the U.S. criminal legal system. This seminar centers on the role of the prosecutor and draws upon theoretical scholarship and empirical research. It puts theoretical criticism of prosecutorial discretion in conversation with empirical evidence of prosecutors’ impacts, in addition to discussing relevant doctrine. We will spend several weeks considering the institution of plea bargaining, prosecutors’ impacts on racial disparities, and their interactions with police. For the unit on police, we will consider how prosecutors interpret and respond to information about arrests that they receive from police officers. Then, we will discuss empirical evidence on the impacts of policing on crime — as well as recent efforts to surveil police using body-worn cameras. Finally, this seminar will reflect on the rise of the progressive prosecutor movement and other recent calls to reform prosecutor practices.