The Supreme Court ruled in the 1963 Brady case that prosecutors have to turn over to the defendant exculpatory evidence and evidence that might impeach witnesses against the accused. Withholding this evidence was ruled to be a violation of the Constitutional guarantee of equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments. The Brady mandate is honored only in the breach today, and prosecutors are able to withhold vital discovery material with impunity. People's homes are invaded because of lies. People are arrested because of lies.
People go to prison because of lies.
People stay in prison because of lies, and sometimes bad guys go free because of lies. Lying has become a significant problem in federal court cases because the rewards to federal law enforcement officers can be so great and the consequences minimal. Moushey's investigation found hundreds of cases where federal officers and prosecutors tolerated or encouraged perjury. This widespread and unpunished practice by federal prosecutors might come as a startling revelation to anyone who was foolish enough to give credence to the congressional diatribes about perjury during the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. While the House managers railed against perjury as threatening the very foundations of the rule of law, Moushey's investigation makes it abundantly clear that perjury is one of those foundations.