The Forum: Should Good People be Prosecutors?

Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice -- "Should Good People Be Prosecutors?" A Book Talk with Professor Paul Butler of George Washington University Law School.

George Washington University Law School Professor Paul Butler is a provocative scholar who specializes in criminal law, race and racism in U.S. law, and jury nullification, among other issues. He is also a former federal prosecutor. While serving as a prosecutor, he was arrested and charged with a crime he didn't commit. This experience caused him to question whether the criminal justice system of which he was a part was working, and his conclusion was that it was not. In his new book, Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice, Professor Butler offers his view of the criminal justice system, arguing that too many people are incarcerated, especially for nonviolent drug offenses. As a result, he argues that incarceration now causes more crime than it prevents, and suggests methods he believes would allow citizens to resist complicity in this system and stand up for their rights. In one chapter, Professor Butler addresses the question "Should Good People Be Prosecutors?" This chapter will be the subject of this book discussion.

The discussion is moderated by Tony Barkow, the Executive Director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School of Law. The Center's mission is to promote good prosecution practices in the criminal justice system. Before starting the Center last year, Barkow worked as a prosecutor for 12 years, most recently in the United States Attorney's Offices for the Southern District of New York and before that in the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the Department of Justice.

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