PROSECUTORIAL DISCRETION TO DEFER CRIMINALIZATION - THE EFFECTS OF DEFENDANTS ASCRIBED AND ACHIEVED STATUS CHARACTERISTICS

This research contributes to a further understanding of prosecutorial discretion by exploring tenets of casual attribution theory and etiolo gy of bias theory as each informs an uncertainty avoidance perspective on the prosecutor's decision to divert felony drug defendants from cr iminal prosecution and into a treatment program. The sociolegal conseq uences of the exercise of this early screening decision are expressed by both conflict theorists and labeling theorists. Our analysis involv es estimating main effects and interaction effects of defendant ascrib ed status and achieved status on the likelihood of diversion. The find ings indicate partial support for hypotheses derived from the theoreti cal perspectives pursued. In addition, these findings point to a more complex model of the subjective nature of the exercise of prosecutoria l discretion, a model that benefits from understanding the salience of minimizing uncertainty in the decision to criminals.