From [HERE] At every step of the criminal process, there is evidence that African Americans are not treated as well as whites - both as victims of crime and as criminal defendants. n10 And because prosecutors play such a dominant and commanding role in the criminal justice system through [*17] the exercise of broad, unchecked discretion, their role in the complexities of racial inequality in the criminal process is inextricable and profound. n11
In this article, I examine prosecutorial discretion - a major cause of racial inequality in the criminal justice system. I argue that prosecutorial discretion may instead be used to construct effective solutions to racial injustice. n12 Prosecutors, more than any other officials [*18] in the system, have the power, discretion, and responsibility to remedy the discriminatory treatment of African Americans in the criminal justice process. Through the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, prosecutors make decisions that not only often predetermine the outcome of criminal cases, but also contribute to the discriminatory treatment of African Americans as both criminal defendants and victims of crime. I suggest that this discretion, which is almost always exercised in private, gives prosecutors more power than any other criminal justice officials, n13 with practically no corresponding accountability to the public they serve. n14 Thus, I maintain that prosecutors, through their overall duty to pursue justice, have the responsibility to use their discretion to help eradicate the discriminatory treatment of African Americans in the criminal justice system. [MORE]