If you think that real-life prosecutors resemble their ultracompetitive counterparts on TV, then most of my colleagues just might surprise you. Yes, we want to win convictions in the cases we try. But we also care about our ethical obligations to pursue justice and to promote the well-being of “society as a whole,” a phrase that figures prominently in the National District Attorneys Association National Prosecution Standards.
That is why more than 20 other current and former federal, state and local prosecutors were driven to submit a friend-of-the-court brief in Chaidez v. U.S., a case that questions inequality in our justice system and was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on November 1. While seemingly revolving around complex points of law, the case raises basic questions about American society and our system of justice:
