Discretion

Judges discretion refers to the power that judges have to interpret some laws. State and federal judges can use judicial discretion, however it's important to emphasize that their discretion is not unlimited. Judges can use their discretion to interpret the laws that already exist, as long as the interpretation does not oppose with the language of the existing law. Judicial discretion is also constrained by the rights assigned in the other branches of the government, and by the doctrine of "stare decisis", or better describe as maintaining what has been decided (Manaugh). ... Ho...

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Police discretion is a tool used by officers; it gives them the ability to utilize the law to the letter or not to enforce it to the letter of the law. ... Discretion is about making the right decision based on input of the situation and surrounding circumstances around the officer. ... There are a wide variety of causes of discretion. ... Police tend to exercise more discretion in lesser or traffic type offenses than in felonies. A couple examples of police discretion would be an officer witnesses a car driving down a street doing approximately 30 miles over the speed limit. ...

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Can There Be Abuse of Discretion in Corrections? When any institution or agency's current policy guidelines and procedure standards are set aside in lieu of officer discretion for everyday duties so often that they become the expected norms or standard rather than utilized for the unusual or exceptional situations, then abuse of that allowance for discretion has occurred. When the discretion that is allowed by policy becomes exercised so often and too rampantly ultimately, it will lead to chaos resulting in a breakdown in individual officer's and the institutional authority....

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Everything in a police officer's line of duty involves using his or her discretion. Discretion is defined as the power or right to decide or act in one's own judgment. ... Sometimes, an officer practices poor discretion⎯as exemplified in this article. ... Officers can use poor discretion as such and decide to beat someone instead of simply constraining him. ... Years of street hardening can lead to poor judgment or discretion. ...

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There are certain traditions within police departments that govern how an individual officers discretion is to be used. Sometimes discretion comes in the form of strict adherence to the law while other times an officers discretion can be seen as abusive and a misuse of their allotted power. There remains however, an informal structure of discretion in almost all police departments that seems to make up the norms as to how an when discretion is used. ... Another discretional norm would be the notion that it is a physical, economical and mental impossibility for all laws to be enforced at all ...

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Sentencing and the discretion exercised during this within the criminal justice system enable the competing interests of society, the victim and offender to be balanced. ... " Instead, judicial discretion was used, and it was taken as a mitigating factor that the offence was not planned or premeditated. ... The judicial discretion Justice McCallum exercised in R v Gittany highlights how discretion justly allows laws to be implemented on a case-by-case basis in the criminal justice system, considering individual circumstances. ... In this case, a fair trial was further ensured through the...

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There have been many cases where the judge had no discretion in the sentence due to the mandatory minimum sentences, no matter what the mitigating factors ( first offense, provoked, mental disorder, age, etc.) were. ... I will stress how it should be the discretion of the judge to individualize the sentences based on the offender's mitigating factors, and background. ... (Blatchford, 2012) (Jones, 2009) One of the biggest issues with the creation of the mandatory minimum sentences is the elimination of the judge's discretion in the sentencing process. ... This 1993 case was not part...

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Whether it be physical force, persuasion, or coercion; they must use discretion when deciding what course of action best suits the situation. ... (Crank) Whether or not a policeman uses force at a given time is based on his discretion concerning the present danger at the time of the arrest. ... Though police are trained in using discretion and use of force, sometimes mistakes are made where too little or too much force is applied. ... Because of the officer's discretion, his decision to not use force, this act resulted in someone being beaten or killed. ... The problem arises when ...

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"While fiduciary duties are both necessary and fair, the judiciary have too much discretion in determining who falls within the category of fiduciary. ... A fiduciary relationship is " one in which a person undertakes to act on behalf of or for the benefit of another, often as an intermediary with a discretion or power which affects the interests of the other who depends on the fiduciary for information and advice" . More simply, fiduciary obligation exists where "the relationship between the parties is one which gives the fiduciary a special opportunity to exercise the power or discretion to ...

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