Commentary: John Thompson. National Law Journal presents: "A call for prosecutorial accountability."

STORY: "A call for prosecutorial accountability," by Deborah Jane Cooper published in the National Law Journal on December 12, 2011.'

GIST: "Psychologists Ann Tenbrunsel and David Messick, in a 1999 article in Administrative Science Quarterly, studied the effects of sanctioning systems on decisions and cooperation, finding that "a weak sanctioning system can actually decrease cooperation, decrease expectations of cooperation, and influence perceptions of the situation," promoting a focus on a cost-benefit analysis of the decision rather than an ethical analysis. A strong sanctioning system predicted the highest level of rule compliance. How do we create strong sanctioning systems in the context of prosecutorial accountability?" (Some of the most disturbing miscarriages of justice have involved prosecutors who failed to disclose exculpatory forensic reports or actual evidence to the defence. HL.)

The commentary can be found at:

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202535064834&A_call_for_prosecutorial_accountability&slreturn=1

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;