Elements in Discretionary Decision Making
Discretion in the criminal justice field essentially allows judges, prosecutors, parole officers, and other law enforcement
officials/officers to make decisions based on the circumstances of the crime or situation. Discretion allows for flexibility in how
crimes are investigated, charged, and sentenced. Unfortunately, it can be viewed as “unfair” especially when privilege, bias and
inconsistency are observed. This is why there needs to be clear guidelines to ensure fairness in the system.
One notable instance of a discretionary decision made in the criminal justice system was the Brock Turner case. Brock Turner
was a former Stanford University student who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster on
campus in 2016 (Gersen, J.S, 2023). During this case the judge was viewed as using discretion especially during the sentencing phase
of the case. The most controversial use of discretion occurred when the prosecution decided to offer Brock Turner a plea deal and
when the judge gave a very lenient sentence. The judge in this case sentenced Brock Turner to just 6 months in county jail, 3 years of
probation, and to register himself as a sex offender for the remainder of his life. At one point, Brock Turner’s father read a character
statement and asked for leniency and stated, “I can tell you firsthand the devastating impact that it has had on my son” (Xu, V, 2016)
and that Brock “…fell into the culture of alcohol consumption and partying” (Xu, V, 2016). It was also stated in the letter that a harsh
sentence would be “…a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life” (Xu, V, 2016). This caused an
uproar as it was viewed as the father downplaying the severity of the situation. It is noted that the father did not mention the victim in
