Court Must Help Stop Unlawful Prosecution Tactics

Fifty years ago this week, the United States Supreme Court held in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) that the government must disclose to the defense all information favorable to the accused in a criminal prosecution. This obligation, which applies at both the guilt and sentencing phases of the case, is still ignored by the prosecution. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (“NACDL”) has summarized the miscarriages of justice that occur when Brady is not honored by the prosecution in a paper entitled  “Human Cost of Brady Violations” paper.

It is available here:

www.nacdl.org/discoveryreform

The systemic violation of Brady obligations must stop. Accordingly, the NACDL is urging Congress to codify the prosecution’s Brady obligations through a new statute on the subject.  On March 15, 2012, with NACDL support, leading U.S. Senators introduced bipartisan legislation to achieve much-needed discovery reform in criminal proceedings – The Fairness in Disclosure Act of 2012. This Act was introduced in the aftermath of a report on prosecutorial misconduct that occurred in the case of the late Sen. Ted Stevens.  NACDL’s Task Force on discovery reform is developing model state disclosure legislation to aid legislators in 50 states to ensure due process for those accused of crime.

Contact Chambers Law Firm to discuss how these issues of fairness and disclosure required by the prosecution could affect your case.

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