What are the factors that influence prosecutorial discretion? Why is the ability to use discretion so important for the system?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

There are four main types of factors that influence prosecutorial discretion: legal, victim, extralegal, and resource issues. Legal issues include characteristics of the justice system, crime, the criminal, and the victim as well as the quality of police work and the amount and relevance of the evidence. In addition, seriousness of the crime influences discretion. For example, a defendant with a history of offenses and who has caused the victim significant physical harm is more likely to be brought to trial than a first-time offender who did not hurt the victim much. Victim factors have to do with how the victim's behavior influences charging decisions. Some victims do not want to press charges, and if a victim decides not to cooperate, this is a key factor in the decision to prosecute cases. The odds of a case being prosecuted are seven times greater when victims are considered cooperative. Extralegal factors include the offender's race, gender, or ethnic background. Due process considerations demand that personal characteristics have no bearing on the use of prosecutorial discretion. Proving racial bias is difficult. Defendants must produce credible evidence that similarly situated defendants of other races could have been prosecuted but were not. Finally, resource issues include the availability of treatment and detention facilities, the size of caseloads, and the number of prosecutors available. Some research efforts have concluded that the availability of resources may be a more critical factor in shaping discretion than legal or extralegal factors. Tight government budgets may force prosecutors to accept plea bargains because they cannot bring many cases to trial. This ability to use discretion is important for the system because it prevents the rigid implementation of criminal law and gives the prosecutor the chance to humanize the operation. Their discretion also vastly lessens the number of cases brought to trial and keeps the system from bogging down further.