ABSTRACT
Prosecutors are arguably the most important people in the criminal justice system when it comes to the death penalty: no one can face a possible death sentence unless a prosecutor decides to seek it. This chapter addresses prosecutorial discretion, including who makes decisions and factors that affect them. It discusses legal issues that can be particularly challenging for prosecutors in death penalty cases. The United States (US) Attorney General is the chief lawyer for the United States government, the chief law enforcement officer in the country, and the head of the Department of Justice. The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 makes the US Attorney General the gatekeeper of the death penalty in the federal system. Racial differences in the use of the death penalty do not necessarily signal that the system is rife with discrimination; in fact, many studies that found racial disparities also found geographic disparities.
