Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Texas Law Review
Publication Date
6-2024
ISSN
0040-4411
Page Number
1541
Keywords
criminal justice, blanket pardon, prosecutor lenience
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Law
Abstract
Once "the Darth Vader of academic writing,"' American prosecutors are making a comeback. In recent years, "progressive prosecutors" have leveraged prosecutors' one true superpower-lenience-to "reform the criminal justice system from the inside." There is so much scholarly enthusiasm for this project that the existing commentary can be summarized as offering a one-word principle to govern considerations of prosecutorial lenience: yes. But there is surely more to say. American criminal law covers a broad array of offenses with vast differences in punitiveness across jurisdictions and courts. And even harsh critics of the system's severity tend to pivot when it comes to certain offenses, like crimes committed by police. Plus, some scenarios call for lenience but not necessarily prosecutor lenience. Prosecutors may be poorly positioned relative to police, judges, legislators, and governors for some exercises of lenience, and poorly suited by demeanor or experience to recognize the need for "equitable discretion."
Recommended Citation
Jeffrey Bellin,
Principles of Prosecutor Lenience, 102 Texas Law Review. 1541
(2024)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1654