Our organization is rooted in the human costs of prosecutor misconduct. Prosecutors carry an immense ethical burden due to their role in a system that gives them significant discretion—from disclosures to plea bargains to charging decisions. Any misstep, intentional or not, can result in grave injustice. Too many people like Alfred Dewayne Brown have lost decades of their freedom and faced irreparable damage to their careers and family life, suffering the unique pain of knowing they are innocent.
Even in situations where that truth comes to light, victims of misconduct have very little recourse. The law protects prosecutors from most criminal or civil liability, and other forms of accountability (professional discipline, retraining, internal reforms that prevent the error from reoccurring, electoral consequences, etc.) are shrouded in uncertainty.
The Foundation for Prosecutorial Accountability is a 501(c)(3) non-profit established in 2020 to promote a just legal system and prevent prosecutorial misconduct by:
- Performing research to develop data related to prosecutorial misconduct;
- Collaborating with prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, judges, academics, and engaged non-profits in a non-partisan way to develop consensus standards for conduct and accountability;
- Educating the public and key stakeholders about the need for reform and serving as a repository for educational materials and resources for those involved in the criminal justice system, and;
- Advocating the adoption of ethical standards of prosecutorial conduct and rational limitations on prosecutorial immunity. The Foundation for Prosecutorial Accountability is uniquely positioned to support the evolution of a criminal justice system toward increased justice, transparency, accountability and equality.
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Dewayne Brown’s story, including the work of his attorney Brian Stolarz, is one of 8 exoneration stories chronicled in the hit Netflix Series: The Innocence Files. Dewayne and Brian recently were interviewed by the Foundation for Prosecutorial Accountability.