The Changing Role of the American Prosecutor

This book looks at how prosecution of offenders is evolving in the contemporary legal milieu.

Table of Contents:
PART I Background 1. Prosecution in America: A Historical and Comparative Account John L. Worrall PART II The New Prosecutorial Environment 2. The State's Role in Prosecutorial Politics Kay Levine 3. Prosecution Policy and Errors of Justice Brian Forst 4. Have Sentencing Reforms Displaced Discretion over Sentencing from Judges to Prosecutors? Rodney L. Engen 5. Performance Measures and Accountability M. Elaine Nugent-Borakove PART III Prosecuting Troublesome and Emerging Crime Problems 6. Prosecutors and Treatment Diversion: The Brooklyn (NY) Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison Program Steven Belenko, Hung-En Sung, Anne J. Swern, and Caroline R. Donhauser 7. Project Safe Neighborhoods and the Changing Role of the U.S. Attorney's Office Scott H. Decker and Jack McDevitt 8. Anticipatory Prosecution in Terrorism-Related Cases Robert Chesney PART IV Community Prosecution and Problem Solving 9. Evolving Strategies in 20th-Century American Prosecution Catherine M. Coles 10. Community Prosecution: Rhetoric or Reality? M. Elaine Nugent-Borakove and Patricia L. Fanflik 11. Prosecutors in Problem-Solving Courts John L. Worrall PART V Future Challenges 12. The Future of Local Prosecution in America Judith N. Phelan and Michael D. Schrunk Contributors Index

About the Author :
John L. Worrall is Professor of Criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas and the author of many books, including Crime Control in America: An Assessment of the Evidence and Criminal Procedure: From First Contact to Appeal. M. Elaine Nugent-Borakove is Director of the Office of Research and Evaluation at the American Prosecutors Research Institute.

Review :
"...provides a fascinating look at the potential promise a prosecutor's power presents for rectifying many of the ills that currently afflict the criminal justice system." - Harvard Law Review "Worrall and Nugent-Borakove argue that as prosecutors are becoming more open to public scrutiny and organized pressure, they are also becoming more innovative and proactive in their efforts to control crime ... Many of the contributors are themselves empirical researchers, and seem well acquainted with recent studies. By organizing and applying these recent findings, they make them accessible to students." - CHOICE "The strength of this book is the novelty of the topic. Prosecutors have recently come to the forefront of court research. The contributors give a fresh look into the twenty-first-century prosecutor. They focus on the politics and the new social policy that the new 'American Prosecutor' upholds. No longer is today's prosecutor only interested in convictions. They are interested in crime prevention, which requires a proactive approach rather than merely reacting to situations." - Jeremy D. Ball, Boise State University