Editorial: Let us keep prosecutors based on high standards | Our views

Louisiana has long been a state for law and order. That will probably not change.

In order for such a philosophy to exist, it is based on the integrity of those who suspect criminals and the system that monitors these prosecutors.

However, an investigation of the recent history of the state in the discipline of the prosecutors shows some worrying statistics.

Despite a number of relief in recent years – including some people who have lost their lives in prison for decades to lift their convictions due to law enforcement losses, not a single public prosecutor has been disciplined because he has not exceeded any relieving evidence since 2005.

This is us as a statistical improbability that burdens the credibility.

We understand that prosecutors have a hard and important job. But so that you can maintain our trust, you not only have to be fair and honest, but also eagerly to keep the constitutionally protected rights of the accused.

This means that evidence that could indicate the defendant's innocence could surround. It is what is known in legal circles as “Brady material” after the case of the Supreme Court of 1963 made it clear the responsibility of a public prosecutor.

Many of the recent relief did not hand over the prosecutors to the accused.

An important weakness lies in the way Louisiana's system appeals to such complaints. An agency known as the disciplinary lawyer office is accused of examining allegations against lawyers. If it finds that you have merits, this can submit misbehaving fees. These charges are negotiated by a disciplinary committee that gives the Supreme Court of disciplinary recommendations, which determines whether punishment is justified.

The High Court recently approved a public prosecutor for the consideration of evidence in 2005.

One reason why sanctions are so rare is the high bar that needs to be deleted to prove misconduct.

“You have to prove that the prosecutor knew that the evidence was relieving and not surrounded by the knowledge,” said Loyola's legal professor, Dane Ciolino, reporter John Simerman. “It is not a criminal offense of negligence.”

In some cases, so much time has passed that it can be difficult to prove misconduct, Ciolino noticed.

In addition, the state's Supreme Court made a decision in 2017 that the prosecutors could not be disciplined, unless the court found that the evidence would probably give the judgment.

Juries can be unpredictable. For anyone, it is impossible to know how much a certain evidence would have influenced their considerations.

We know that there are many aggressive, hard -working and fair prosecutors in Louisiana's court halls. And that on the whole you make sure that your Brady obligations are fulfilled when processing a case against a defendant.

But to punish the inability – or the reluctance – whose zeal is pushing into an unethical area, risks them.

For this reason, the prosecutors should be adhered to in the view of their saints and important duty to a high ethical standard of conduct.

We are calling for the heads of state and government, in particular those who are responsible for monitoring the legal system, take measures to ensure that those who take the rights of the accused have real consequences.