HUFFINGTON
08.04.13
RADLEY BALKO
THE UNTOUCHABLES
men who tried to kill me, because
their wives and kids go to your
Christmas party? You should be
trying to put them in jail! But you
can’t even file an ethics complaint
against him. No way. I understand
what they’re saying. But it just
isn’t an excuse.”
It isn’t just other prosecutors
who shy away from reporting misconduct. According to Plattsmier,
his office receives around 3,200
complaints per year. Family law
gets more complaints than any
other area of practice. “Criminal
law gets its fair share,” Plattsmier
says, “But the criminal law complaints are almost exclusively
against members of the defense
bar. You can imagine why that
might be. Everyone who gets convicted, whether it’s of murder or a
parking ticket, they tend to blame
their lawyer.”
According to Plattsmier, in his
time at ODC, complaints against
prosecutors have been almost
nonexistent. That also seems to be
true elsewhere. In 2010, Illinois
considered over 4,000 complaints
against attorneys licensed in the
Shareef
Cousin is a
co-founder of
Resurrection
After
Exoneration,
a non-profit
that helps
exonerees reenter society.