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Public commenters tell Norfolk council federal law could be implicated if new prosecutor role violates Grand Jury protections
Summary
Two Washington-based speakers told the Norfolk City Council that using information charges instead of grand-jury indictments can violate the U.S. Constitution and cited federal statutes; city staff responded that the proposed position would work with social services and not carry prosecutorial authority.
Tannenwood Downing, a civil-rights advocate and litigator from Washington, D.C., told the Norfolk City Council that state practices allowing prosecution "by information" rather than by grand-jury indictment raise constitutional problems and that he is preparing litigation. "States cannot enact their own alternative legislation, substitute that for the guarantees of the Constitution," Downing said, and said he had provided a written notice for the…
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