Atlanta, GA - Today, the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College (“IIP”) filed an amicus brief in Fulton County, Georgia superior court in support of prosecutorial discretion and the rights of local prosecutors to implement approaches supported by their communities.

The IIP’s amicus brief was filed in support of a lawsuit by the Public Rights Project on behalf of four Georgia prosecutors who are challenging SB 92, a new law that establishes a commission with the power to remove locally-elected prosecutors for so-called abandonment of duties. Prosecutors who are removed by the commission cannot serve again for ten years. The IIP, represented pro bono by Proskauer, filed its amicus brief in support of the prosecutors’ motion for an injunction to prevent the commission from acting. 

The IIP’s amicus brief emphasizes the indispensable role that prosecutorial discretion plays in the functioning of the criminal legal system and the harms that limiting discretion will cause for both prosecutors and the communities they serve. SB 92 will prevent prosecutors from making independent decisions based on their good faith assessments of how best to serve the interests of their communities.  The law will also violate prosecutors’ First Amendment rights and inhibit them from being transparent in their communications with the public, as well as hamper their ability to implement reforms that are responsive to the needs of their communities. By allowing prosecutors to be removed based on disagreements with their approaches and decisions, the law will subvert the will of voters and penalize prosecutors for keeping their promises about how they would prioritize limited resources.

“SB 92 subverts the role of prosecutors, who have an obligation to use their vast discretion to advance justice for their communities–not to advance the preferences of state officials, ” said Rachel Marshall, executive director of the IIP, who previously wrote a CNN op-ed on the harms of SB 92. “If allowed to stand, SB 92 will fundamentally alter the role of prosecutors in our legal system and hinder the ability of prosecutors to serve their local communities. Thanks to the invaluable pro bono work of Proskauer, the IIP is proud to stand alongside local prosecutors to defend prosecutorial discretion and to protect local democracy.”

Esteemed law firm, Proskauer, drafted and filed the brief pro bono with the assistance of Peter Canfield of Canfield Law LLC on behalf of the IIP.  

The full amicus brief is available on the IIP’s website.

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About the IIP
The Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (IIP) provides a collaborative national platform that brings together prosecutors, policy experts, and the communities they serve to promote data-driven strategies, cutting-edge scholarship, and innovative thinking.  The IIP is dedicated to criminal justice that promotes community-centered standards of safety, fairness, and dignity.