Ethics

Today the Court hears oral argument in Connick v. Thompson and, perhaps, will now have the opportunity to weigh in on an issue left unresolved last term when Pottawattamie County v. McGhee was dismissed after the parties reached a settlement.  The Pottawattamie County case, as you may recall, questioned whether prosecutors who secured false testimony and introduced it at trial could be subject to civil liability.

The Connick case involves a $14 million jury verdict against the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office for the failure to train its lawyers about Brady-violations, a failure that led to the wrongful conviction of John Thompson.  Prosecutors in the case failed to turn over exculpatory evidence, a lab report in a related case.  Thompson spent 18 years in jail, and nearly was executed, for a crime he did not commit.  Professor Alberto Bernabe offers a summary of the case and some interesting history about it here.  Comprehensive SCOTUSblog coverage here.