D.A.: Prosecutors in Their Own Words

Prosecutors serve a key role at the conjunction of crime and punishment, wielding an influence on our criminal judicial system second only to that of judges. For the most part, prosecutors exercise absolute discretion over their cases: they are the ones who select the cases worth prosecuting, determine the proper charge against the defendant, and decide whether to plea-bargain or go to trial. The best prosecutors approach their task with humility and courage; the worst have big heads and no backbone. In D.A.: Prosecutors in Their Own Words, district attorneys get a chance to explain who they are and what they do. Sometimes, they admit, it feels as if they are trying to shovel sand against the tide. In the face of reluctant witnesses, vengeful victims, vindictive defendants, death threats, political coercion, media scrutiny, public outrage, and the sometimes crushing pressure to win every case at all costs, these mostly anonymous civil servants are obligated to roll up their sleeves and bear the burden of proof against a never-ending flow of deviancy and brutality--all for low pay and little prestige. Mark Baker--who has previously given "in their own words" treatment to cops and bad guys--has put together a revealing and unromanticized insider's view of how American justice works (and how it doesn't) and the toll it takes on its practitioners. "Witnessing so much of the detail of the serious crimes--the brutal homicide, the rapes--you leave something behind by being involved with them," one prosecutor acknowledges. "You don't leave the office the same person you were." --Tim Hogan