Acosta's Resignation May Result in More Losses for Prosecutors

In this mailing: - Alan M. Dershowitz: Acosta's Resignation May Result in More Losses for Prosecutors - Amir Taheri: Erdogan and the Wisdom of Timely Exit [] [Acosta's Resignation May Result in More Losses for Prosecutors]( by Alan M. Dershowitz • July 14, 2019 at 5:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Addthis]( [Send]( [Print]( - Experienced lawyers with whom I have discussed the case -- both prosecutors and defense attorneys -- worry that the thumb of media and political pressure will be placed on the scales of justice when it comes to the exercise of prosecutorial discretion and the decision to try or settle a case. - Consider the situation of a prosecutor today or tomorrow who has a weak federal case involving sexual allegations. He has two options: the first is he can try to make a deal based on the relative strength of his case and of the defense case. But if he makes that deal, he risks criticism for being too soft on sex offenders. His second option is to take the weak case to trial and risk losing. But even if he loses, the risks to him personally are less great because he can blame the loss on the judge or the jury. A deal, on the other hand, is totally attributed to the prosecutor, as evidenced by the Acosta resignation. So, a simple cost-benefit analysis will incline a prosecutor to litigate rather than settle. - In the post-Acosta world, prosecutors will bring cases to trial even if the likelihood of a conviction is questionable, as it was in the Epstein case. The result of this change will be more trials, more crowded courtroom dockets and fewer convictions. That is not good for defendants, victims or for the rule of law. The forced resignation of Alex Acosta based on the plea deal that he made with Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers may have serious unintended effects on our system of criminal justice. Pictured: President Donald Trump shakes hands with Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, following the announcement of Acosta's resignation, on July 12, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) The forced resignation of Alex Acosta based on the plea deal that he made with Jeffrey Epstein's lawyers (of which I was one) may have serious unintended effects on our system of criminal justice. The criticism of Acosta -- whether warranted or not -- for making the deal will cause other prosecutors to go to trial in relatively weak cases in which the chances of losing are considerable. [Continue Reading Article]( [] [Erdogan and the Wisdom of Timely Exit]( by Amir Taheri • July 14, 2019 at 4:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Addthis]( [Send]( [Print]( - Erdogan may be intelligent enough to understand that things do not always go the way one likes. He led a remarkable economic resurgence in Turkey but is now presiding over what looks like an economic meltdown with rampant inflation, falling productivity and shrinking job opportunities. Rather than calming things down, his authoritarian moves, including the sacking of the Central Bank governor, have intensified the crisis. His trademark "no-enemies" foreign policy has been replaced by a policy that seems designed to turn everyone, including NATO allies and European Union partners, not to mention Arab states, against Turkey. - His party's claim of being "whiter than white" is hard to sustain as his entourage sinks deeper in the grey of corruption. More importantly, his success in persuading the "backward" half of Turkey that it could gain power through elections no longer enjoys the same level of support it once did even in deep Anatolia. - Good or bad, the once-successful Erdogan recipe seems not to be working anymore. The bashkhan has read his text, played his part and has nothing new to utter. The play has to go on but, for him, the finger may be pointing to exit. Pictured: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Photo by Jack Taylor/Getty Images) If we regard history as a stage on which the drama of human existence is played, we may pay heed to a piece of advice to actors by Max Reinhardt, the legendary Austrian theater director: How and when you leave the stage is as important as when and how you enter it! [Continue Reading Article]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [RSS]( [Donate]( Copyright © Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved. You are subscribed to this list as {EMAIL} You can change how you receive these emails: [Update your subscription preferences]( or [Unsubscribe from this list]( [Gatestone Institute]( 14 East 60 St., Suite 705, New York, NY 10022