Although your reporter spent more than two years researching the series, he discusses fewer than 70 cases dating back more than 13 years. Readers might be interested to know, by comparison, that during the same period federal prosecutors brought approximately 500,000 criminal cases against approximately 750,000 defendants. Indeed, the series seems to be most bothered not by prosecutors' misuse of law enforcement techniques, such as sting operations, the use of informants, plea bargaining, and stiff sentences for federal crimes, but by the fact that such techniques have been approved by Congress and the Supreme Court. They are effective tools in the war on crime and are not unethical. Indeed, prosecutors would be remiss not to use them in appropriate cases, in order to protect the public.
Federal prosecutors work around the clock putting criminals behind bars.
Their work has helped reduce the national crime rate for more than six years in a row. And they are among the most respected and trusted lawyers in the nation. It is indeed offensive when even one prosecutor engages in misconduct, but to suggest that such misconduct is characteristic of all prosecutors is offensive as well.