Download This PaperInformants & Cooperators
Bridging the Gap: A Report on Scholarship and Criminal Justice Reform (Erik Luna ed., 2017), Forthcoming
17 Pages Posted: 11 Mar 2017 Last revised: 24 Mar 2017
Date Written: March 8, 2017
Abstract
The police have long relied on informants to make critical cases, and prosecutors have long relied on cooperator testimony at trials. Still, concerns about these tools for obtaining closely held information have substantially increased in recent years. Reliability concerns have loomed largest, but broader social costs have also been identified. After highlighting both the value of informants and cooperators and the pathologies associated with them, this chapter explores the external and internal measures that can or should be deployed to regulate their use.
Keywords: informants, plea bargaining, cooperating witnesses, prosecutorial disclosure
JEL Classification: K14, K41, K42
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
