Congress discusses reform to discovery in criminal cases; Dept of Justice objects

Last month, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) introduced such a bill to broaden the scope of information that prosecutors must disclose to defense lawyers and more than 100 prominent lawyers have signed a letter urging Congress to take up criminal discovery reform.  The Justice Department, however, said in a statement that the proposed discovery legislation “would upset our system of justice by failing to recognize the need to protect interests beyond those of the defendant” and “would radically alter” the balance between protecting defendant rights and safeguarding against witness retaliation, disclosing ongoing investigations and protecting the national security.  The Blog of the Legal Times has more on the story here.