Explainer - Special Prosecutor

Perhaps I'm a bit premature, but I just saw on the Indiana Lawyer where Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry has requested that a special prosecutor be appointed to investigate Attorney General Curtis Hill. When I saw the news, I was a bit perplexed. However, as I am a fan of Terry Curry (probably the only prosecutor on Earth who earns my fandom), I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt; nonetheless, I looked into his reasoning for doing so:

Pursuant to Indiana Code section 33-23-13-3, the Attorney General’s Office is required to represent an elected prosecutor in certain civil matters. Hill is currently representing Curry in two civil matters pursuant to that statute, including a challenge to Indiana’s civil forfeiture law that is pending before the Indiana Supreme Court and the most recent Planned Parenthood federal lawsuit challenging an Indiana abortion law.

“We are a client of the Attorney General’s Office, and it would be entirely inappropriate for our office then to turn around and participate in a criminal investigation of the Attorney General,” Curry said. “When the information came to light last week, I had no doubt whatsoever that we could not be involved in any criminal investigation.”

Seems perfectly reasonable to me. As much as I'd love to see Terry Curry put the screws to Mr. Jackass Attorney General Hill, I am heartened to see that the Marion County prosecutor has a sense of what is and what is not appropriate; what does and does not have the appearance of impropriety.

Now if only we could have this kind of honesty, judgment, and discretion at all levels of government . . .