When the Prosecutor Picks the Man

We were warned about a prosecutor--or president--who might "pick people that he thinks he should get, rather than pick cases that need to be prosecuted."

Attorney General Robert H. Jackson poses for a portrait in 1940. (Library of Congress/Getty Images)

On April 1, 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s attorney general, Robert H. Jackson, addressed the Second Annual Conference of U.S. Attorneys in Washington, D.C.

His speech, “The Federal Prosecutor,” is remembered as one of the clearest statements ever made about…