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I did not say I believe that the child welfare rules were particularly good. The idea of taking children first and asking questions later is well-intentioned, but also very traumatic for the children. I am glad I do not make those calls because emergency custody orders do not fall under the auspices of a prosecutor's office. Social Services and the family court handle that. I may handle resulting criminal charges (if any), but by the time they get to me the defendants have all the protections of a presumption of innocence and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. If I wanted to decide child custody matters, I would run for the family court bench. I do not. If a child has truly been harmed, I will gladly prosecute the one doing the harm, though. I will say that the vast majority of Social Service actions never result in criminal charges.

I don't know where you get off saying I am too wrapped up in my job to see the results. I live with the results every day. I have tried cases that resulted in fathers being taken from their children, but I do not see the wisdom in allowing a murderer or armed robber to escape punishment merely to keep a family together (if that is what you were getting at - I'm not sure what you meant). I LIVE with the results of the criminal justice system every day. I have lost many a nights sleep over violent criminals who have gone unpunished because we lacked evidence or because a trial did not end as we wished. That really bothers me. On the other hand, I share with judges and with no other attorneys the requirement that I do justice. Prosecutors are not charged and sworn to win cases, but to do justice - to the extent the system allows it. I have dismissed many a case where I thought the defendant guilty but had no evidence. I have also dismissed cases where I had lots of evidence but thought the defendant innocent. It is a great responsibility, but I take prosecutorial discretion seriously. I even get to give people breaks occasionally when they are caught dead-to-rights.

I dare say I know quite a bit better than you what the results of the criminal justice system are (though I suspect from your tone that you may know better the results of family court matters - which I never deal with). The cost of our system is criminals who are never punished. The benefit of the system is that innocent people are seldom convicted of crimes. I can live with the cost of the system, but only by realizing that criminal justice is no such thing. It is just a procedure to punish those who leave the most evidence. Ultimate justice will come at a higher court. If I did not believe that, I would have quit this business long ago.