University of North Dakota UND Scholarly Commons Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects January 2016 Going Public: How The Government Assumed The Authority To Prosecute In The outheS rn United States Jason Twede Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.und.edu/theses Recommended Citation Twede, Jason, "Going Public: How The Government Assumed The Authority To Prosecute In The outheS rn United States" (2016). Theses and Dissertations. 1975. https://commons.und.edu/theses/1975 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GOING PUBLIC: HOW THE GOVERNMENT ASSUMED THE AUTHORITY TO PROSECUTE IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES by Jason Allan Twede Bachelor of Arts, Weber State University, 2003 Juris Doctor, Thomas M. Cooley Law School, 2006 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of North Dakota in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Grand Forks, North Dakota May 2016 PERMISSION Title Going Public: How the Government Assumed the Authority to Prosecute in the Southern United States Department Criminal Justice Degree Doctor of Philosophy In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my dissertation work or, in his absence, by the Chairperson of the department or the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this dissertation or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my dissertation. Jason Twede April 27, 2016 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................... viii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1 II. PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION ..................................................................4 The Issue of Prosecutorial Discretion ..........................................................4 Transparency ................................................................................................7 Private Prosecution as a Solution .................................................................8 Drawbacks with a Return to Private Prosecution ......................................10 A Dearth of Information on the History of Private Prosecution ................11 III. THE TRANSITION FROM PRIVATE PROSECUTION TO PUBLIC PROSECUTION ..............................................................................................13 The History of Private Prosecution ............................................................13 Qualifying the Bounds of Private Prosecution ...........................................16 A Continuum of Control ............................................................................19 Transition as a Process and not a Single Event..........................................20 Determining Meaningful Areas of Control ................................................25 Explaining the Transition ...........................................................................34 iv IV. BENTHAM, MARX AND PROSECUTION..................................................36 Jeremy Bentham.........................................................................................37 The Utilitarian Principle ............................................................................39 Bentham’s Proposed Prosecution Legislation ...........................................40 Karl Marx’s Criticism of Bentham ............................................................46 False Consciousness...................................................................................49 The Bourgeois Paradox ..............................................................................50 V. SLAVERY .......................................................................................................54 Economic Explanations for a Shift to Public Prosecution .........................54 What about the South? ...............................................................................57 Slavery as an Economic Institution............................................................58 Georgia .......................................................................................................59 Social Classes in Georgia ...........................................................................60 A Marxist Interpretation of the American Civil War.................................69 VI. PROSECUTION AND ABOLITION SOCIETIES ........................................78 English Prosecution Societies ....................................................................80 Prosecution Societies in America ..............................................................85 Possible Threats to the Bourgeoisie ...........................................................87 The History of Abolition Societies ............................................................93 The Varied Approaches of Abolition Societies .......................................100 Legal Activism .........................................................................................111 The Twenty Year Window Draws to a Close ..........................................118 VII. THE OLIGARCHY OF 300,000 ...................................................................123 v Appointment ............................................................................................123 Slave Ownership by Public Prosecutors ..................................................127 Political Careers of Public Prosecutors ....................................................132 Federal Public Prosecutors in Georgia .....................................................141 In Summary ..............................................................................................145 VIII. PROSECUTIONS ..........................................................................................146 Inconsiderate Prosecution ........................................................................146 Slave Offenses in Georgia .......................................................................148 Parallels to White-Collar Crime...............................................................164 Enforcement as the Issue .........................................................................170 IX. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................172 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................176 Works Cited ...............................................................................................................176 Cases Cited.................................................................................................................198 Legislative Materials Cited ........................................................................................201 Data Sources Cited .....................................................................................................207 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Chart of the Relationship between Urban Crime and Public Prosecution .....................89 2. Donations to the American Colonization Society ........................................................106 3. Donations to the American Colonization Society, Adjusted for Population ...............109 4. Timeline of Pertinent Slavery Legislation and Prosecution ........................................120 5. Slave Ownership of Georgia State Public Prosecutors ................................................129 6. Slave Ownership of Georgia Federal Public Prosecutors ............................................143 vii LIST OF TABLES Figure Page 1. Number of Slaves Owned by Georgia State Public Prosecutors .................................130 2. Number of Slaves Owned by Georgia Federal Public Prosecutors .............................144 viii ABSTRACT This research explores factors that may have influenced the transition from private prosecution to public prosecution in Georgia during the late-eighteenth century—a transition that eventually happened in every jurisdiction in the United States. There are numerous people, both inside and outside academia, who are calling for a change to the current system of prosecution in the United States. One possible change that is being advocated is a return to a system of private prosecution. Understanding the reasons the system changed from a system of private prosecution in