Taking Prosecutorial Misconduct ‘Unseriously’: Brady Violations and The Myth of Professional Account

Prosecutors have complete or absolute immunity from suit for their actions, even when taken in bad faith, in the course of carrying out their function of litigating criminal cases. In justifying this rule, which it adopted in Imbler v. Pachtman¹ and expanded upon in subsequent cases,² the Supreme Court has assumed that the threat of professional discipline would deter prosecutors from violating the obligations of their office.