Just accepted a job as a state prosecutor, T2 school, top 1/3 grades; AMA Forum

[andythefir]

How do you feel about imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders? Do you believe that prison should serve punitive or rehabilitative purposes?

This is probably why the OP quit answering, this is a loaded question way above the pay grade of people just trying to stay out of debtor's prison. 95+% of property crimes and 99+% of murders are substance related. I personally include rehab in the bulk of my pleas, but the waiting lists for rehab can be 2 years. It's also easy for someone who is not a DA to say we should dismiss all drug cases, but if that person runs over a family while loaded that's all going on the head of the DA that dismissed that case.

[andythefir]

blows my mind that we, as a society, are cool with entrusting untested law students with the power of prosecution

The alternative is to pay DAs way more than we do. And DAs that stick around rural jurisdictions tend to be abject losers in my experience.

[20160810]

Step 1.) invent a robot that can put cops on the stand and repeatedly ask "And then what happened?"

Step 2.) retire rich and enjoy your obsolensence

[n1o2c3a4c5h6e7t]

How do you feel about imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders? Do you believe that prison should serve punitive or rehabilitative purposes?

This is probably why the OP quit answering, this is a loaded question way above the pay grade of people just trying to stay out of debtor's prison. 95+% of property crimes and 99+% of murders are substance related. I personally include rehab in the bulk of my pleas, but the waiting lists for rehab can be 2 years. It's also easy for someone who is not a DA to say we should dismiss all drug cases, but if that person runs over a family while loaded that's all going on the head of the DA that dismissed that case.

It's not a "loaded question." Many people believe that incarcerating drug offenders is a good idea (perhaps including you), and I'd imagine most believe that prison should serve punitive rather than rehabilitative purposes. My question merely reflected a curiosity of how newly minted prosecutors view this issue. Prosecutors are strongly favored in criminal trials and plea bargains, and at the end of the day, prosecutors' personal belief systems effectively determine the tenor and character of our criminal justice system.

There's no "right" answer to that opinion-based question, and it's silly to say that I made OP stop answering his self-professed "AMA."

[Nebby]

This is the worst AMA ever

[andythefir]

How do you feel about imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders? Do you believe that prison should serve punitive or rehabilitative purposes?

This is probably why the OP quit answering, this is a loaded question way above the pay grade of people just trying to stay out of debtor's prison. 95+% of property crimes and 99+% of murders are substance related. I personally include rehab in the bulk of my pleas, but the waiting lists for rehab can be 2 years. It's also easy for someone who is not a DA to say we should dismiss all drug cases, but if that person runs over a family while loaded that's all going on the head of the DA that dismissed that case.

It's not a "loaded question." Many people believe that incarcerating drug offenders is a good idea (perhaps including you), and I'd imagine most believe that prison should serve punitive rather than rehabilitative purposes. My question merely reflected a curiosity of how newly minted prosecutors view this issue. Prosecutors are strongly favored in criminal trials and plea bargains, and at the end of the day, prosecutors' personal belief systems effectively determine the tenor and character of our criminal justice system.

There's no "right" answer to that opinion-based question, and it's silly to say that I made OP stop answering his self-professed "AMA."

Fair enough, most of the time it devolves into "why do you just want to lock up non-white people" pretty quickly on the Internet. My jurisdiction is extremely pro-defense (you need a search warrant to get into trash that you left in a hotel room and the hotel took to a public communal dumpster), so I have way less power than other jurisdictions in pleas. The reality is a meth addict takes 2 years to heal their brain, if they ever heal. A 90 day program is just a waste of everyone's time, and the best mental health/substance abuse treatment in the state is in the prison system. As far as cocaine/heroin/pills, long probation tails and rehab works out best for everyone, in my opinion. I'm less lenient on selling weed than some of my peers because on the border you're only a few transactions removed from the Cartel, though.

[Mucho Maas]

For OP,

Do you think non-consensual anal sex happens in prison? And if so, why aren't you guilty of conspiracy?

[ronanOgara]

For OP,

Do you think non-consensual anal sex happens in prison? And if so, why aren't you guilty of conspiracy?

Better question, why do you feel the need to be anon when trolling?

[A. Nony Mouse]

For OP,

Do you think non-consensual anal sex happens in prison? And if so, why aren't you guilty of conspiracy?

Better question, why do you feel the need to be anon when trolling?

Yeah, don't do that, Mucho Maas. (Also a stupid question.)

[Mucho Maas]

It's an uncomfortable question, but it's only a troll question to the most self-righteous.

The real answer is that prosecutorial immunity prevents any substantive liability from attaching, even (especially) when the prosecutor knows the defendant is innocent and that most state and federal law claims (like PREA) attach to the wardens, regardless of the involvement of prosecutors because of the legal fiction that prosecutors couldn't possibly have an involvement in who ends up in prison and how they act. There's moral considerations there, of course, and obvious ones.

I was an ADA and for a hot second I was in charge of hiring-- and this was the question that I asked all new interviewees.

I asked it anonymously because, frankly, I wanted to prove my point. Prosecutors, especially new ones, when faced with the question, either ignore it or accuse it of an emotional appeal. Those were the ones I always dinged for long term hire because, frankly, if someone asking 'why do you functionally condone prison rape' short circuits your higher thinking (or any thinking) good luck with the career. Primarily because whatever the context most people are thinking it, for good or bad, and the easiest way to lose credibility (with defense attorneys, judges, officers, people who can put two thoughts together ect) is act like the U.S. prison system isn't built, at least partially, on the systematic sexual violence perpetrated against its wards.

Perhaps put a slightly different way, the answer that I always looked for was 'even if it was true, and it probably is, it does not matter.'

[A. Nony Mouse]

I can see why you're a PD now.

[Mucho Maas]

Well, I mean, imagine a new ADA who thought that prison rape didn't happen. Immediately they lose an accurate estimation of some of the best pre-trial chips a DA's office has: county v. state prison, choosing what charges to act on with child molestation v. incest/statutory rape, appealing to witnesses ect. There's an underlying humanity there, of course, but if a new hire can see that given a choice between going to a futile trial on a child molestation charge and a futile trial on an incest or rape charge even if the sentencing is exactly the same the defendant will always go to trial for molestation but plea out for the rape. At that point, then, they're well on their way. Or perhaps simply no one got a jury fired up with images of the accused getting the Martha Stewart treatment.

[stego]

How do you feel about imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders? Do you believe that prison should serve punitive or rehabilitative purposes?

This is probably why the OP quit answering, this is a loaded question way above the pay grade of people just trying to stay out of debtor's prison. 95+% of property crimes and 99+% of murders are substance related. I personally include rehab in the bulk of my pleas, but the waiting lists for rehab can be 2 years. It's also easy for someone who is not a DA to say we should dismiss all drug cases, but if that person runs over a family while loaded that's all going on the head of the DA that dismissed that case.

Can the OP quit answering if they never answered anything in the first place?

[A. Nony Mouse]

Well, I mean, imagine a new ADA who thought that prison rape didn't happen. Immediately they lose an accurate estimation of some of the best pre-trial chips a DA's office has: county v. state prison, choosing what charges to act on with child molestation v. incest/statutory rape, appealing to witnesses ect. There's an underlying humanity there, of course, but if a new hire can see that given a choice between going to a futile trial on a child molestation charge and a futile trial on an incest or rape charge even if the sentencing is exactly the same the defendant will always go to trial for molestation but plea out for the rape. At that point, then, they're well on their way. Or perhaps simply no one got a jury fired up with images of the accused getting the Martha Stewart treatment.

Does anyone actually think prison rape doesn't happen?

And my comment wasn't at all meant as an insult, it was just an observation.

[20160810]

It's an uncomfortable question, but it's only a troll question to the most self-righteous.

The real answer is that prosecutorial immunity prevents any substantive liability from attaching, even (especially) when the prosecutor knows the defendant is innocent and that most state and federal law claims (like PREA) attach to the wardens, regardless of the involvement of prosecutors because of the legal fiction that prosecutors couldn't possibly have an involvement in who ends up in prison and how they act. There's moral considerations there, of course, and obvious ones.

I was an ADA and for a hot second I was in charge of hiring-- and this was the question that I asked all new interviewees.

I asked it anonymously because, frankly, I wanted to prove my point. Prosecutors, especially new ones, when faced with the question, either ignore it or accuse it of an emotional appeal. Those were the ones I always dinged for long term hire because, frankly, if someone asking 'why do you functionally condone prison rape' short circuits your higher thinking (or any thinking) good luck with the career. Primarily because whatever the context most people are thinking it, for good or bad, and the easiest way to lose credibility (with defense attorneys, judges, officers, people who can put two thoughts together ect) is act like the U.S. prison system isn't built, at least partially, on the systematic sexual violence perpetrated against its wards.

Perhaps put a slightly different way, the answer that I always looked for was 'even if it was true, and it probably is, it does not matter.'

Your mother and I conspire to commit sodomy routinely

[fauxpsych]

AMA.

Illinois?

[Borhas]

This is the worst AMA ever

This fellow would only have information on DA hiring process. WTF would he know about actually being a DA?

[Nebby]

This is the worst AMA ever

This fellow would only have information on DA hiring process. WTF would he know about actually being a DA?

Nothing, but the people demand answers!

[gmail]

It's an uncomfortable question, but it's only a troll question to the most self-righteous.

The real answer is that prosecutorial immunity prevents any substantive liability from attaching, even (especially) when the prosecutor knows the defendant is innocent and that most state and federal law claims (like PREA) attach to the wardens, regardless of the involvement of prosecutors because of the legal fiction that prosecutors couldn't possibly have an involvement in who ends up in prison and how they act. There's moral considerations there, of course, and obvious ones.

I was an ADA and for a hot second I was in charge of hiring-- and this was the question that I asked all new interviewees.

I asked it anonymously because, frankly, I wanted to prove my point. Prosecutors, especially new ones, when faced with the question, either ignore it or accuse it of an emotional appeal. Those were the ones I always dinged for long term hire because, frankly, if someone asking 'why do you functionally condone prison rape' short circuits your higher thinking (or any thinking) good luck with the career. Primarily because whatever the context most people are thinking it, for good or bad, and the easiest way to lose credibility (with defense attorneys, judges, officers, people who can put two thoughts together ect) is act like the U.S. prison system isn't built, at least partially, on the systematic sexual violence perpetrated against its wards.

Perhaps put a slightly different way, the answer that I always looked for was 'even if it was true, and it probably is, it does not matter.'

if this was a facebook post I would pause for a second and then 'like' it

[Anonymous User]

OP here. My fault. I was busy with my clerkship.

[Anonymous User]

which market? was your school in that market?
salary?
were you gun ho prosecutor from the get go?
internships?
how hard did you have to hustle?

1) ~65k, benefits, etc.

2) No.

3) None.

4) Once I got my clerkship, hustled my ass off.

[Anonymous User]

Have you had your first Brady violation yet?

No, but I worked on plenty of Brady motions during my clerkship.

[Anonymous User]

Will you be appearing at bond hearings?

What arguments do you plan to make in securing high bond amounts?

Do you go hit up the bar every night after work like they do on TV?

What were some of the interview questions that you were asked?

1) Yes.

2) Not many. My state has very liberal bond laws.

3) No.

4) "You don't have a lot of prosecutorial experience. In fact, you have defense experience. How does this make you a good prosecutor?"

[Anonymous User]

How do you feel about imprisoning nonviolent drug offenders? Do you believe that prison should serve punitive or rehabilitative purposes?

My state is very pro-Drug Court and I support that.

[Anonymous User]

AMA.

Hey,
Here is my question for your AMA. Are you going to answer any of the god damn questions here? You started this thing for Christ's sake, maybe you should follow through on it.

To be fair, he's probably spending all his time studying for the bar atm. But yeah, worst AMA ever.

Do state prosecutor offices make offers before someone is licensed? He/she must be in Montana or Wyoming.

Already licensed when offered.