The Unchecked Charging Power of the Prosecutor
Jasper Ko
Politics
Radley Balko
Huffington Post
4/13/12

        George Zimmerman has just been charged with 2nd degree murder by Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey. This charge has won praise for the many supporters of Trayvon Martin in the very highly publicized case of his murder. However, the author Radley Balko, believes that this is a case of the prosecutor being given too much power. In 22 states there must be a grand jury indictment before any charges are made, but in the rest of the states, the prosecutor is able to charge someone with anything without any checks or balances. Sometimes a ridiculous charge may be overturned, but otherwise the charge is determined by the prosecutor alone. In addition, the prosecutor is protected by complete immunity, so they may not be sued. In turn, many of those that are charged may not be able to find sufficient defense to overturn these accusations, as it is quite expensive to higher an apt lawyer when one is charged with a severe crime.
     I believe that even though prosecutors seem to possess a little too much charging power, they won't be able to get a conviction if it is too ridiculous. If they charge someone with a much more severe crime than deserving, the chances of them reaching a conviction is much lower, because they need sufficient evidence to prove the accusations. I think that all states should require a grand jury indictment first, but a prosecutor is professionally, if not morally, obligated to reach a reasonable charge.