Prosecution in the Making III: Prosecutors as Court Actors

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

This session is one of four titled “Prosecution in the Making”, designed to bring together new evidence on the organization, context and strategy of local/national prosecution offices in the United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Specifically, the presentations will examine key issues related to prosecutorial discretion, plea bargaining, and pretrial detention (Panel 1); the investigative and decision-making processes of prosecutors (Panel 2); their role as courtroom actors (Panel 3); and their position within the broader justice system, focusing on politics and legitimacy (Panel 4).
Drawing on case studies from Colombia, Chile, Peru, Guatemala, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, and the United States as well as other efforts at regional/comparative work, we explore common challenges for research, policy and advocacy, as well as opportunities for follow-up work to deepen connections to theory and practice.

Sub Unit

• Area VI. The Criminal Justice System / 46. Courts & Sentencing

Individual Presentations

• Daily routines and courtroom workgroup encounters in the City of Buenos Aires’ lower criminal courts: the case of plea bargaining (2019-2023). - Mariano Sicardi, National University of José C. Paz / University of Buenos Aires

• Circumventing pre-trial detention: An examination of prisión provisional in Guatemala - Sebastian Galleguillos, University of Massachusetts Boston; Veronica Michel, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Professional dynamics and institutional development of prosecution agencies: The Chilean case - Diego Rochow, University of California, Irvine / Universidad Adolfo Ibanez

• Reconfigured police-prosecutor relationships in the era of the Progressive Prosecution movement - Megan E. Mohler, Temple University; Luis C. Torres, Temple University; Jesse Brey, Temple University; Jeffrey T. Ward, Temple University; E. Rely Vilcica, Temple University

• Investigative Autonomy or Prosecutorial Control? The Struggle for Direction in Chile’s Criminal Investigations. A Principal-Agent Dilemma. - Victor Beltran, Universidad Diego Portales

Chair

• Andres F. Rengifo, Rutgers University

Organized by a Division or external group?

Prosecution in the Americas Working Group