Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law / 2004

The United States and its citizenry rely on prosecutors to adhere to ethical standards and to behave professionally when dealing with matters the requisite standards do not address. Because courts and disciplinary agencies are generally unfamiliar with most prosecutorial activity, society inevitably must rely on their self-regulation and enforcement. Although U.S. citizens do have confidence in prosecutors’ general motivations, terrorist defectors and informants (hereinafter “terrorism informants”) may not. Over the last few decades the U.S. Government has been repeatedly accused of problematic dealings with many important terrorism informants.