Criminal Law and Policy News and Events for the University of Arizona Community

Voters often underinformed in DA contests

Marc Miller likes to joke that district attorneys lose elections only slightly less often than leaders did in the old Soviet Union.

The quip isn’t too far from the truth, though, the University of Arizona law professor said. A recent study of chief prosecutor elections across the nation found that when incumbents run, they win 95 percent of the time.

The primary reason for that success is that incumbent prosecutors aren’t even challenged in 85 percent of elections. In jurisdiction after jurisdiction, prosecutors are allowed to coast into another term without having to explain how their offices have performed, Miller said.

McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest has held his post longer than any other district attorney in local history. The last time he was challenged on the ballot was more than a decade ago. But that will change next year, when Segrest will face an opponent in the November general election.

Still, the odds are not in favor of voters getting the information they need to determine whether Segrest or a challenger is better for the job, said Ron Wright, a Wake Forest University law professor who wrote the election study and has partnered with Miller on research projects. Even when prosecutor elections are contested, the campaigns tend to focus on trivial matters, he said.

“What they often talk about is single cases,” Wright said. “They talk about their lawyering skills and background. What you are far less likely to see is a discussion about the overall output of their office, their priorities.”

That is worrisome, Wright and Miller said, because chief prosecutors occupy one of the most powerful positions in the criminal justice system. The discretion they have to prosecute cases or reject them gives them more control over the fate of those accused of a crime than a judge or jury.

Elections offer one of the only checks on that power, Miller and Wright said. They noted that when prosecutors have an opponent, they win only 69 percent of the time.

Click here for the rest of the story, the second of two installments in the Tribune-Herald’s examination of how the McLennan County district attorney’s office decides which cases to prosecute.

DS

NPR Story on Law to Permit Guns on Campus in Arizona

Here.  Here's a Tucson Citizen article.  However, a highly placed source (i.e., an intern) told me that the bill won't pass, and if it does, it'll be vetoed and not overridden.

New Jersey Capital Punishment

An email from a reader: "In case you have not yet heard, New Jersey is on the verge of repealing the death penalty.  The major hurdle was the Senate, which today narrowly voted in favor of legislation that would repeal the law.  The measure is expected to easily pass on Thursday in the General Assembly, which tilts nicely in favor of the Democrats, 50-30; Governor Corzine has long wanted to get rid of capital punishment.  Here's the Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/nyregion/11death.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

NM, MD, NE and MT this year saw repeal measures narowly defeated.  Perhaps 2008 will see the winds of repeal blow westward!"

Denver Post on Criminal Justice In Indian Country

Thanks to Fred Urbina for this link, which I've posted here and on Crimprof.  Well worth reading.

It's Not What you Know, It's Who You Know: It pays to have Friends When Taking the Bar Exam

South Carolina does not have appeals or re-grading of failed bar exams, yet, some children of politicians who failed nevertheless magically passed after complaining.