“Prosecutorial misconduct,” occurs when a prosecutor who is tasked to seek justice, behaves incorrectly in pursuit of justice. For example, a prosecutor may believe that a suspect is guilty and in his zeal to gain a conviction, may overlook (or even withhold) evidence that could exonerate the suspect. According to a 2020 study issued by the National Registry of Exonerations, close to 50% of wrongful convictions can be attributed to prosecutorial misconduct.
One reason for this misconduct, is obviously the desire by the prosecutor to obtain more convictions. The higher a prosecutor’s conviction rate, the more honor he receives and the more money he can receive when that prosecutor, who currently works for the municipality, decides to seek a job with a law firm later in his career.
It is conceivable that another contributory factor could be that, at times, there is a greater propensity for a prosecutor to cause a miscarriage of justice, because he or she, although well-intentioned, may be overzealously pursuing justice. There is a fascinating Rabbeinu Yonah in this week’s Parsha (Vayikra 16:1) which supports this dynamic.
Rabbeinu Yonah writes: “These were the children of Aharon (Nadav and Avihu) who were extremely righteous. This is seen from the fact that when Hashem called Moshe to approach [Him], He mentioned their names right after that of Moshe and Aharon and before the [very righteous] seventy elders of Israel (see Shemos 24:1). Their intent when they approached Hashem in offering the incense was to serve Hashem in awe... Nonetheless, they were punished because they approached Hashem when He did not command them to do so. The Torah began this Parsha by mentioning their death to show that Hashem will not tolerate those who do things without His permission. This is to warn the Kohain Gadol not to change things in all that he is entrusted to do.”
One may ask, if Nadav and Avihu were so righteous, how could they have possibly erred and brought the incense when they were not supposed to? It seems from the wording of Rabbeinu Yonah that in their overzealous effort, “to serve Hashem in awe,” they made this mistake. We also see that even the Kohain Gadol needs this warning as he may fall victim to this dynamic as well. In addition, perhaps those like the Kohain Gadol and others in authoritative positions need to be especially careful, as their status may serve to fuel their need to ensure that everything goes right, which can motivate them to overlook or discount things they should not. For example, a Mashgiach (Supervisor of Kashrus) for a Pesach program, may yell or embarrass his staff in his zeal to ensure that his high standards of Kosher supervision are adhered to for the benefit of the program patrons.
Similarly, the Sfas Emes explains the sin of the Meraglim (the spies who spoke ill of the land of Israel) in this manner. It was because of their righteousness and position of authority as leaders of Bnei Yisrael that caused them to sin (BaMidbar Parshas Shlach 5639). They felt that they were Bnei Yisrael’s salvation and that they desperately needed their leadership. Accordingly, with noble intentions, they sinned when they spoke against the land of Israel which they believed would help them remain in power and to continue to provide the leadership that they thought Bnei Yisrael needed.
