Title

Shifts in Policy and Power: Calculating the Consequences of Increased Prosecutorial Power and Reduced Judicial Authority in Post 9/11 America

Forthcoming in the Widener Law Review

Abstract

Among many responses to the attacks of September 11, 2001, Congress and the states have shifted to the executive branch certain powers once held by the judicial branch. This article considers the impact of transferring judicial powers to prosecutorial officers, and compares the consequent increased powers of the prosecutor with those powers traditionally held by prosecutors in Japanese criminal courts. It considers the impact of removing from public view and judicial oversight many prosecutorial functions, drawing comparisons between the largely opaque Japanese prosecutorial roles and those roles now assumed in immigration and anti-terrorism laws, noting the need for safeguards not currently in place in U.S. systems but shown to be highly effective in Japanese systems.

Disciplines

Administrative Law | Comparative and Foreign Law | Courts | Criminal Law | Criminal Procedure | Immigration Law | International Law | Judges | Law and Society | Public Law and Legal Theory | State and Local Government Law

Date of this Version

August 2005