Posts Tagged Tennessee District Attorney General
Tennessee District Attorney General – Description of Duties
Posted by Steve Oberman in Court Procedures, Frequently Asked Questions on December 17th, 2010
The citizens of Tennessee often become upset at their District Attorney General for either prosecuting a case they don’t believe should be prosecuted or for not prosecuting a case they believe should be prosecuted. With that in mind, here is a quote from an opinion rendered by the Tennessee Supreme Court describing the duties of the District Attorney General (then called the Solicitor-General). I hope this enlightens the readers of this blog.
The District Attorney General
… “He is to judge between the people and the government; he is to be the safeguard of the one and the advocate for the rights of the other; he ought not to suffer the innocent to be oppressed or vexatiously harassed; any more than those who deserve prosecution to escape; he is to pursue guilt; he is to protect innocence; he is to judge the circumstances, and, according to their true complexion, to combine the public welfare and the safety of the citizens, preserving both, and not impairing either; he is to decline the use of both individual passions and individual malevolence, when he can not use them for the advantage of the public; he is to lay hold of them where public justice, in sound discretions, requires it.” …
Catherine Fout v. State of Tennessee, 4 Tenn. 98 (1816)