Trump's judges double down, making it easier for prosecutors to convict innocent people
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Donald J. Trump’s put five judges on the Fifth Circuit; George W. Bush placed four there. Two Reagan appointees are still active. Just three Obama and two Clinton judges sit on that court, which hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The lateTrump's judges double down, making it easier for prosecutors to convict innocent people
Donald J. Trump’s put five judges on the Fifth Circuit; George W. Bush placed four there. Two Reagan appointees are still active. Just three Obama and two Clinton judges sit on that court, which hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The latest reminder of what that means for our rights is a chilling one. For the past 55 years, prosecutors have been required to share exculpatory evidence—that is, evidence they have that a defendant may be innocent—with the defendant. That requirement, called the Brady Rule or Brady Doctrine, does little to alleviate the radical disparity between prosecutorial and defense resources when defendants depend on public funding, but it’s a bulwark against the worst of abuses. The rule came out of a 1963 Supreme Court case, Brady v. Maryland, in which prosecutors prosecuted one man, John Leo Brady, for murder—he was sentenced to death—despite having a confession from another man, Donald Boblit, admitting he’d been the one to kill the victim. Seems like a fundamentally sound concept, no? Read more