National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys

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To the Editor of USA Today:

Sadly your article (Prosecutors' conduct can tip justice scales, Sept. 24)
inaccurately and unfairly portrayed the professionalism and integrity of the
thousands of federal prosecutors who have never been subject to the slightest
suggestion of ethical misconduct or lapse of judgment. Even by USA Today's
own statistics, federal prosecutors fulfilled their ethical responsibilities in nearly
all- an astounding 99.97 percent -- of the more than 675,000 criminal cases they
brought in the federal courts since 1998. Your focus on prosecutorial
misconduct - as though this was a common phenomenon in the federal courts -
is clearly off the mark, simply by the numbers.
As in all professions, lawyers sometimes make inadvertent mistakes. For
prosecutors, as well as for federal judges and defense attorneys, rising caseloads
and increasingly complex litigation can contribute to the rare inadvertent error
that goes on to make headlines. Substantial safeguards exist to both prevent and
address prosecutorial error. Federal prosecutors receive mandatory ethics and
discovery training by the Department of Justice every year. Every prosecutor's
work is scrutinized by supervisors, the grand jury and the trial judge.
Whenever claims of improper conduct are raised, prosecutors face review and
potential discipline by DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility, state bar
authorities, and the trial courts.
In a nation governed by laws, federal prosecutors strive not to win cases,
but to assure that justice is fairly sought and dispensed.

Steven H. Cook
President, National Association of Assistant United States Attorneys

865-225-1700 (day)
865-755-4440 (evening)

President: Vice President: Treasurer: Secretary:

Richard L. Delonis Steven H. Cook Robert Gay Guthrie Rita R. Valdrini
ED of Michigan ED of Tennessee ED of Oklahoma NDof West Virginia