Judges have warned for decades that misconduct by prosecutors threatens the Constitution’s promise of a fair trial. In 1997, Congress passed the Hyde Amendment, which was designed to discourage misconduct by allowing the reimbursement of legal fees to defendants who are the victims of wrongful Federal prosecution.

But in a landmark series, USA Today documented 201 cases in which judges determined that Justice Department prosecutors–-the nation’s most elite and powerful law enforcement officials—violated laws or legal ethics.

Assisted by legal experts and former prosecutors, Brad Heath and Kevin McCoy spent six months reviewing legal databases, department records and tens of thousands of pages of court filings. They found that innocent people are punished, guilty people go free, or face less punishment, and taxpayers foot the bill.

It is the most comprehensive account ever written of the scope of misconduct by federal prosecutors. In January 2011, the Justice Department announced the results of an internal review and the creation of a new unit whose sole mission will be to discipline federal prosecutors who have violated the rights of citizens.