Benefits and Drawbacks of No-Drop Policies and Evidence-Based Prosecution

In order to combat the massive threat that domestic violence poses to pub-lic safety, prosecutors’ offices across America have enacted no-drop policiesrequiring prosecutors to seek a guilty verdict on all domestic violence cases.However, for many and varied reasons, victims of domestic violence are oftenhesitant to testify against their abusers in court proceedings. Evidence-basedprosecution, sometimes called victimless prosecution, has become the goalfor many prosecutors seeking to hold abusers accountable when the victimdoes not want to testify. However, there can be practical barriers to success-ful evidence-based prosecutions, which, when combined with strict no-droppolicies, leave prosecutors no option but to force reluctant victims to testify.This article discusses the interplay between well-intentioned no-drop poli-cies, the practical limitations to evidence-based prosecution, and the effectsof these policies on the victims they seek to protect.