Hyde Amendment (1997) - Need For Restraint

Need For Restraint

Prosecutorial abuse in the United States Attorneys Office has become a growing problem as pressure to crack down on crime has increased. At the same time, maintaining sufficient oversight of the practices and ethics of the Justice Department has become increasingly difficult for Congress, the press, and the courts. Criminal defense attorneys are especially vulnerable to "bad faith" prosecutions and the burden these place on the vindicated defendant.

There is no other department that is viewed with comparable terror or fear, because there is no other department that by itself can put you in jail or take your life, liberty or property away from you. The Department has the FBI and the other agencies. It has become a Leviathan in the minds of a lot of people because it is so big and imponderable. I think it is correct to say that no outsider is capable of oversight.

Most prosecutors are elected officials. The decision to file charges can be affected by public opinion or politically powerful groups. If prosecutors do not carefully screen the cases chosen to pursue, individuals may be charged when there is insufficient evidence. More and more the high public profile of the suspect or the sensational nature of the crime may have more bearing on the charging decision than the weight of the evidence or the nature of the crime.

Even under the Hyde Amendment it is an acquitted defendant's responsibility to prove that the prosecutor acted in bad faith or the case was frivolous. In U.S. v. Mary Louise Denese Slaey, the government dropped all counts on August 2, 2006 although further review of her case was continuing elsewhere and she was not notified of the dismissal of the further review until February, 2007. Slaey filed for legal reimbursement on April 3, 2007; her request was dismissed on April 25, 2007 because the August 2006 motion ended the issue from the court's point of view so her motion was dismissed as "out of time", that is more than 30 days after the dismissal.