Petition richtet sich an: Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel

Dear Chief Disciplinary Counsel Dotson,

We are writing to ask you to hold prosecutors who commit misconduct to account. Louisiana has one of the highest rates of wrongful conviction in the country. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, prosecutorial misconduct happens in Louisiana’s wrongful convictions at twice the national average. Over ninety percent of Louisiana victims of prosecutorial misconduct are Black or Hispanic. However, only one prosecutor has ever been sanctioned by Office of Disciplinary Counsel for misconduct related to a wrongful conviction, and that was twenty years ago.

Prosecutors are not like other lawyers. The ways in which they might violate the Rules of Professional Responsibility can cause harm that other lawyers cannot, including through wrongful incarceration. In the words of the first Black Chief Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Bernette Johnson: “Our court has never hesitated to impose discipline on attorneys who are guilty of misconduct involving financial or trust account issues. Yet, the actual injury caused by prosecutorial misconduct is much greater. A loss of a liberty interest is undoubtedly more valuable than financial loss.”

It cannot be that only one prosecutor who has hidden evidence in Louisiana’s history is worthy of discipline when 54 wrongful convictions of innocent people have been because of prosecutorial misconduct. We asking you to commit to reforming your office’s hiring, training, and resource allocation decisions to ensure evidence of prosecutorial misconduct is adequately investigated and prosecuted. Accountability for our public servants who break the rules should be among your office’s chief priorities.