One of the most trusted public positions should be the prosecutors. These are the individuals that are given the trust to bring charges on the citizens under which they serve. It is their job to uphold and support the law. To determine given the evidence by police if a crime is committed and to try the people involved.
Whenever someone in a position of this level of trust abuses or even apparently abuses this power, they should themselves be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The power that these individuals wield is extensive and the legal ramifications to all that they have tried comes into question.
If one of these individuals has lied, covered evidence, or has done anything that tarnished the justice of the courts, then they have given the appearance that JUSTICE has not been served.
By acting in the fashion that Nifong has, he has put the Justice system of his district in serious question. It doesn’t even matter in the long run if this was an isolated incident, it has brought every case that he has prosecuted under the microscope. How many innocent people have been incarcerated? How many criminal that are dangerous will end up with their freedom from these technicalities?
Should he face charges and prison?
Of course. He should be given the sentences that his crime warrants to the maximum. Then after a Judaical review of all the cases that he has prosecuted, if there is evidence that he acted wrongly and imprisoned innocent citizens, then after the time that these individuals lost he should be made to pay. No gain time, good conduct time or plea bargain allowed. If this means he dies imprisoned because of these years then that is what he deserves.
As he was a public servant then any money that was paid to him as a salary should be levied against him as fines. All of it, to be distributed to any victims of this mans corruption.
We should not allow this type of corruption to exist. It is a cancer and the only treatment for it is aggressive removal.