After people are arrested, their fate is largely in the hands of a prosecutor. Whether they are penalized for poverty, have a fair shot at fighting charges, know what evidence they are confronting, or are locked up are all impacted by prosecutors’ decisions and the recommendations prosecutors make to the judges handling their cases.

The lead prosecutor in a community sets the policies and practices that inform how all of these critical decisions are made in the local prosecutor’s office. Your lead prosecutor has a duty to be responsive to you and other constituents and to run the office in a manner that is reflective of the community’s vision for its justice system. The only consistent tool of public accountability is elections, as the vast majority of lead prosecutors are voted into office. But when voters reach the ballot box, voting for their lead prosecutor becomes a bit of a black box in and of itself. 

Most voters have very little information about candidates’ platforms, the policies they endorse, or their views on how to manage a prosecutor’s office.

Lead prosecutors and their executive staff define the goals of the office, instruct line prosecutors on how to approach decision making on their cases, and evaluate line attorneys based on those goals and instructions. Line prosecutors are responsible for their caseloads and exercise their discretion in the key decisions of their cases. Depending on the extent to which the lead prosecutor implements policies that guide or dictate line prosecutors’ decisions, how they approach these key decisions can vary significantly not just from office to office, but also within a single office. A lead prosecutor’s influence on how the local justice system operates also extends beyond the office and staff to other system stakeholders. Lead prosecutors have considerable influence on other actors in their local system, in particular the police, judges, and juries. 

The decisions that prosecutors make every day directly impact the lives of those who have been ensnared in the criminal justice system. When prosecutors use their discretion to give individuals a chance, there can be different results.

While putting herself through pharmacy school in 2011, Patricia O’Malley received the devastating news that her high school boyfriend and his parents had been brutally murdered. Dealing with this tragedy and its aftermath, which required her to testify at trial about the gruesome murders, caused her to go from taking pills occasionally to get high, to needing them to function every day. By the time Patricia started working as a pharmacist at CVS in 2014, her addiction to pills was out of control. The pharmacy’s loss prevention unit discovered that pills were missing and used the store video surveillance system to identify Patricia as the source. The investigation was eventually referred to the District of Columbia U.S. Attorney’s Office for prosecution. Instead of pursuing an indictment on various felony charges associated with the stolen pills, however, the prosecutor decided to pursue a different course.  

The prosecutor recognized that Patricia’s actions were clearly driven by a substance use disorder, and she felt strongly that a felony conviction would only hinder Patricia’s recovery and her ability to move forward with the rest of her life. The prosecutor let Patricia enter into a deferred prosecution agreement, which would allow the case to be dismissed if she successfully completed a period of supervision. Patricia saw this as a second chance and immediately focused on accessing the therapy and narcotics anonymous groups that she needed to heal. Patricia has not only maintained her sobriety for the last two-and-a-half years, but she is also active in two narcotics anonymous groups, including one specifically for pharmacists. She has taken a leadership role and serves as a mentor to those who are just beginning their road to recovery. Patricia is frequently invited to speak at in-patient rehabilitation centers and to outpatient groups about her experiences. She is grateful that she had a prosecutor who saw past her actions and recognized her potential.