Week 5 Discussion CRJ 501

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.

Within juvenile justice, the prosecutors have broad discretionary powers pertaining to which cases are brought before a court for formal adjudication. This prosecutorial discretion has been the source of much debate. Some scholars and media personnel maintain that prosecutors weigh far too many external variables extraneous to the specifics of a case in the decision of whether to bring a case before a court. Others assert that the discretionary powers of a prosecutor are intended to allow an attorney to weigh as many factors as are relevant as they make decisions regarding to the disposition of cases.

Using the Peak (2015) text and the Rainville (2001) article, examine the debate surrounding discretionary decision making. State your view on whether prosecutorial discretionary decision making should perhaps be limited. Additionally, state whether you believe it serves the purpose of justice for a prosecutor to consider facts external to the specifics of a case in their decision to prosecute an offender.

Guided Response:
Your initial post should be at least 400 words in length. Review your colleagues’ posts, and substantively respond to no fewer than two of your peers. In your response, state whether you agree with the declarations made by the original poster and provide support for your opinions. Expound on the idea of how a prosecutorial discretion could affect offender sentencing. Your responses and citations must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Continue to monitor the discussion forum until 5:00 p.m. (Mountain Time) on Day 7 of the week, and respond with robust dialogue to anyone who replies to your initial post.