With Great Power comes Great Responsibility

It is a quote from Spiderman, but, applies to the real world, not just comic strips.  I heard it from a prosecutor the other day, he was referring to the impact his decisions could have on people. 

If he decided to charge a person with a serious crime they could be arrested, held in jail, labelled as a criminal in the media, around the community, in some cases fired from their job.  All of this can happen before a trial, before a conviction, before there is any decision that a crime has been committed.  The filing of a criminal complaint, a formal charge against someone by a prosecutor can make all of this happen, the impacts are of course worse for accusations of serious crimes.  The prosecutor I was talking to said that he considers the impact of a criminal charge on someone before he files one, he makes sure that there is solid evidence that the person is guilty, has actually committed a crime before charging them with it. 

This is the responsibility that goes with the power to charge someone with a crime.  This is prosecution at it's best, using the power of the state to accuse carefully, with restraint and humility.