What prosecutors must do to protect their communities

A prosecutor’s core job responsibilities are fairly straightforward: execute/enforce the laws; seek justice in every case; enhance public safety; and respect the rights of crime victims.

Scott A. Coffina is a partner in the white-collar defense group at Montgomery McCracken, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a former associate counsel to President George W. Bush, senior deputy chief counsel to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and assistant U.S attorney. He recently completed a five-year term as the county prosecutor for Burlington County, New Jersey.

The duty to enforce the laws of their state is non-negotiable, and not simply because prosecutors have sworn to do so (although that should be reason enough). Predictability and consistency are crucial parts of a fair criminal justice system. Whether or not someone faces the serious consequences of prosecution should not depend upon the policy preferences of the head prosecutor, who was elected or appointed to uphold, not undermine, the duly enacted laws of the state. 

There is a place for "prosecutorial discretion," but such discretion should be exercised at the macro level by establishing enforcement priorities to ensure public safety, not as a hollow justification for the wholesale abdication of the responsibility to enforce a law with which that prosecutor disagrees. To illustrate, when gun violence spikes, effective prosecutors will exercise their discretion to prioritize gun crime prosecutions, which might result in de-emphasizing prosecutions of other, nonviolent crimes, but not ignoring them (and certainly not announcing you will ignore them).