Attorney Generals
An attorney general is any Attorney that functions as the main legal adviser to the government. Attorney generals represent the state in criminal manners, they are the highest ranking county, state, or federal prosecutor. Attorney generals are under the authority of the executive branch’s department of justice. The attorney general of the Federal Department of Justice is Eric Holder. He is the chief legal adviser of the President of the United States and is responsible for setting the standards of legal policies at the federal level of jurisdiction. Federal attorneys general are appointed by the President of the United States but most attorneys general, at the state level, are elected. The fact that attorney generals are elected gives the position a political dynamic in the pursuit of addressing public crime issues.
State Attorney general are therefore usually ambitious district attorneys that seek to prosecute high profile criminal cases to gain the favor of the public. After all, they are servants of the public and should be elected. They direct and prioritize which crimes are the most damaging to the public. They can politically persecute rivals and keep politicians honest. They have the authority to run investigations of individuals running a crime. State Attorneys general are the boss above all district attorneys to whom they are held accountable to pursue the policies that the attorney general believes are of critical importance. Since the nature of the position is somewhat political, many attorney generals go onto run for executive government offices. A famous example of an attorney general running for office is the ill-fated Governor Eliot Spitzer (D-NY); before he was governor, as attorney general of New York from 1999 to 2006, he initiated policies that fought corruption within Albany and was known for his tough policies against street prostitution. Ironically, shortly after the then former attorney general was elected Governor of New York, he was exposed and indicted for the solicitation of an extremely expensive call girl. He subsequently resigned as governor. Federal investigators exposed the former state attorney general’s illegal actions.
Some say that the Attorney General’s exposure by federal investigators was politically motivated being that the New York Governor’s scandal occurred during a major election year. The federal attorney general at the time, Michael Mukasey (R), might have gotten the order to investigate Spitzer to discredit the democratic party as a whole. Bad press is always damaging to a party’s interests. Eliot Spitzer did the political tactful thing and resigned from governor. However, the events of the Spitzer scandal should raise questions about the efficacy of the role of the attorney general. Attorneys general are powerful people with the authority of the law. Justice is closely associated with the law as iconographically depicted in the blind statue of the woman holding a balance scale. Politics are inherently unfair and biased. In America politics see colors: red or blue. To get elected, district attorneys and city prosecutors with ambitions of being elected to State attorney general can put innocent men in jail to look “tough” on crime because it is popular with voters. During Eliot Spitzer’s tenure as attorney general of New York, incarceration rates soared. Many of the failures of the so-called “War on Drugs” come as a result of ambitious prosecutors at the district attorney and attorney general levels. These powerful attorneys can pressure judges into making harsher sentences for potentially innocent people. The system can harm the fragile equilibrium of judicial discretion necessary for a healthy criminal justice system. The attorney general also affects policing because police try to look for certain crimes yet neglect others, other crimes potentially of more importance. Policies regarding the protection of the public should be apolitical and made in the best interest of the public. Political ambitions should be set aside and priorities should be made to keep the criminal justice system as fair as possible.
Political gain should not be made at the expense of record incarceration rates for non-violent offenders. America disproportionately incarcerates more people than any other country in the world. As schools close new jails are constantly being built. That’s why the position of state attorney general should be an apolitical appointed position as it currently is in some states. Maine, a state whose attorney general is appointed by the state legislature, has the lowest incarceration rate at 222 people per 100,000 residents; while, Kansas, a state of a similar size of population that publicly elects their Attorney general has a incarceration rate of 475 per 100,000, nearly double. The growth of the prison industrial complex is one of the greatest social issues of the day because it puts a heavy burden on state budgets. Privatization of Jails increases incarceration rates and makes imprisoning people profitable, therefore it should be avoided due to its unethical ramifications. The problem should, therefore, be addressed.