Joy & McMunigal on Overloaded Prosecutors

Peter A. Joy and Kevin C. McMunigal (Washington University in St. Louis - School of Law and Case Western Reserve University School of Law) have posted Overloaded Prosecutors (33 Criminal Justice 31 (Summer 2018)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

 

Prosecutors across the United States often are assigned many more cases than they can competently handle. In this paper, we first look at the prevalence of such prosecutorial overloading. We then describe the negative practical consequences such overloading is likely to have on defendants, victims, and the public. Finally, we examine the perverse impact such heavy caseloads are likely to have on prosecutorial ethics, undermining adherence to the many critical ethical obligations we place on prosecutors.