Ferguson gets weirder still

[Loki]

I think the intended purpose of having elections for these positions is to give the legal system more legitimacy at the local level; after all, some federally appointed prosecutor isn't going to be very sensitive to the concerns of the locals in the area where he's appointed, which would affect their willingness to cooperate with the judiciary and the police. The real problem is that there are multiple local groups with sharply diverging preferences, which means the prosecutor ultimately has to choose sides (and in most cases, they will side with the majority).

[LittleFuzzy]

Aren't grand jury proceedings generally confidential, while trials are open? Considering it's an elected office, I'd say that makes a huge difference.

They are generally confidential but. . . it's a weird sort of confidential. The records themselves get sealed and there is no obligation to let anyone observe the proceedings or even tell anyone they're happening. But the members of the grand jury and any witnesses they call can and do talk about the proceedings freely.

I think the intended purpose of having elections for these positions is to give the legal system more legitimacy at the local level; after all, some federally appointed prosecutor isn't going to be very sensitive to the concerns of the locals in the area where he's appointed, which would affect their willingness to cooperate with the judiciary and the police. The real problem is that there are multiple local groups with sharply diverging preferences, which means the prosecutor ultimately has to choose sides (and in most cases, they will side with the majority).

Loki, there's a pretty massive gap between "federal appointment" and "local election." City-managers aren't selected by the feds, nor are city attorneys (distinct from the DA's office) or a host of other city or county positions. All of those still feel the pull of electoral politics of course, anything touching on governance does, but they do get more insulated from it.

[GGT]

The real problem is that there are multiple local groups with sharply diverging preferences, which means the prosecutor ultimately has to choose sides (and in most cases, they will side with the majority).

I think the "real" problem is that DAs are expected to prosecute crimes....but have an aversion to prosecuting police because of their symbiotic relationship, and bias. All other arrests involving Officer Wilson were 'put on hold' during the grand jury -- because they knew the outcome could effect those future prosecutions.

You went on to mention legitimacy, and convincing the public that the system is fair, but somehow missed those were reasons for Furguson protests? The locals didn't have confidence in the police or the DA, and requests for a special prosecutor were denied.