Courts

John Oliver Knows Who Really Holds All The Power In A Courtroom

Hanging over the criminal justice system is a misplaced belief that prosecutorial discretion is synonymous with a just result.

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John Oliver

In last night’s episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver dissected the tremendous power wielded by the prosecution in the criminal justice system.

In the episode, he deals with all aspects of how the prosecution stacks the deck against defendants. He takes on how plea bargains are used to pressure innocent people to enter guilty pleas on lesser charges lest

]\they face severe penalties at trial; the trial by ambush many prosecutors deploy when they delay handing over Brady materials; the competition to win and be seen as tough on crime, even if that comes at the expense of 30 years of an innocent man’s life; and hanging over the entire system is a misplaced belief that prosecutorial discretion is synonymous with a just result.

District attorneys are generally elected positions, but it doesn’t mean the average DA is as well known as Cy Vance. In fact, 85 percent of prosecutors run unopposed and as Oliver notes, most Americans don’t even know who they are:

Most people know as much about their local DA as they do about their local Cheesecake Factory manager. Chances are you don’t know who they are, and if you do, it’s probably because something truly terrible has happened. But the truth is, like the Cheesecake Factory, prosecutors have the ability to ruin lives in a second.

Watch the clip below to see how Oliver tackles the weighty issue with laughs:

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headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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