Discretionary practices like plea bargaining and charge dismissal escape or defy legal standards

Evidence

This diversity is reflected in the legal standards defining criminal justice policy—from the rules regulating pretrial release to the tests for determining responsibility for one’s criminal acts and the laws governing the sentencing of criminals. If anything, there is even greater diversity in the discretionary practices—such as prosecutorial dismissal of charges and plea bargaining—that have developed in the absence of legal standards or, at times, in opposition to them. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2053

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the crucial analytic distinction between formal legal standards and extralegal discretionary practice.
• XREF: connects to: Severity of charges drives defendants toward trial or negotiated pleas — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1664; Prosecutors dismiss convictable cases when prosecution would not serve justice — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1675; Plea bargaining shifts sentencing control from legislatures to courtroom actors’ discretion — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1809 (+12 more)

Broader Connections

• Detailed legal standards in a ruling reduce discretion and produce compliance #corroborates (0.95) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 3189
• Plea bargaining operates as a rough informal system of precedent #complicates (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1751
• Enforcement discretion makes written rules differ from actual practice #corroborates (0.90) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 55
• Ad hoc adjudication breaks litigant participation and undermines its legitimacy #corroborates (0.85) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3312
• Plea bargaining persists even when caseload and evidence cannot explain it #complicates (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1773
• Criticisms of plea bargaining often actually target features of the criminal justice system generally #complicates (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1810
• The discretionary-function exception replaced activity-specific carve-outs in 1942 tort bills #qualifies (0.75) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 2056
• Norms of proper judicial conduct vary across courts and over time #complicates (0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2610
• A complete account of judging combines legal rules with attitude-influenced discretion #qualifies (0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2649
• Lawyer discipline is rare relative to complaint volume and lenient toward infractions #qualifies (0.75) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 1288
• Courts may retroactively invalidate conduct though litigants often dispute it #qualifies (0.75) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 2861
• Literal application of legal rules sometimes produces absurd against-purpose outcomes #qualifies (0.70) — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 284