Do Defenders Make Better Prosecutors?
The new District Attorney in Manhattan, Cyrus Vance, Jr., announced an effort last week called the Conviction Integrity Program that will seek to protect against wrongful convictions. Mr. Vance is a former criminal defense attorney, and Maureen Howard – professor at University of Washington Law school as well as a former prosecutor and judge – wrote yesterday in the Huffington Post that it may be Mr. Vance’s experiences as a defense attorney that led him to take this novel step. The program seeks to ensure that the DA’s office can effectively serve its role as “a minister of justice with a duty owed to each defendant,” as Howard puts it.
This view of how prosecutorial and defense experiences shape one’s view of the responsibilities and duties within the criminal justice system is something that we discussed with Derwyn Bunton, Chief Public Defender in New Orleans, earlier on this blog. What are your thoughts? Does being a defender make you a better prosecutor, or vice versa?