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Community Prosecutors

Alfieri, Anthony V
June 4, 2015

Source: (2002) California Law Review. 90: 1465.

In this essay, Anthony Alfieri addresses the ethic of community in criminal prosecution. In the sphere of criminal prosecution, the ethic of community emphasizes the values of citizen participation, institutional decentralization, and local accountability in the prosecution function. These values are intended to foster citizen-state collaboration and grass-roots equality initiatives within the criminal justice system. Moreover, through more responsive, community-oriented prosecutorial roles and strategies, the ethic of community involvement in criminal prosecution aims to prevent individual crime and enhance collective welfare. In this context, Alfieri examines the community prosecution movement by surveying its theoretical foundation. He traces the role and rationale of prosecutors in community-based advocacy, specifically in communities of color. His main thesis is that citizen participation, institutional decentralization, and local accountability not only improve criminal justice but also ameliorate conditions of poverty, disempowerment, segregation, and crime in communities of color.

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