Opinion ID: 1541042
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Petitioner Self-Interest and Vindictiveness

Text: We turn, finally, to appellants' concern that private petitioners pose threats of vindictive prosecution for private gain. We agree that a private petitioner has no legitimate personal right to vindicate or legal interest to protect by the civil commitment process. It does not follow, however, that a private party, represented by competent, responsible counsel, is likely to jeopardize important interests in the absence of the restraining influence and authority of a public prosecutor. There is no evidence to support appellants' view that the Commission, and especially the court, are incapablewithout assistance by a public prosecutorof guarding against improper dispositions shaped by the advocacy of self-interested, vindictive petitioners. To the contrary, a petitioner's counsel cannot properly be a dogged, inflexible advocate for one position, without regard to developing evidence. Because of the very nature of the commitment process, petitioner, through his or her counsel, must be an amicus curiae of sorts, with a duty to facilitate, not subvert, the aims of the statute. See ABA Code of Professional Responsibility, DR 7-102, EC 7-10. If a private party seeks to impede the search for a just result, the trial judge has the duty and power to impose constraints. See Lake v. Cameron, supra, 124 U.S.App.D.C. at 268 n. 10, 364 F.2d at 661 n. 10.