Prosecutorial Discretion

With their discretionary power to screen and charge criminal cases, prosecutors wield extraordinary influence on the criminal legal system.

The Deason Center's research helps define best practices in this critical work.

For an arrested person, the criminal court process begins when police take them to jail. But legally, an arrest is not the same as a prosecution.

While an arrest brings a person into the criminal legal system, only a prosecutor can decide whether to seek a conviction or decline prosecution. The Deason Center investigates what happens in this crucial decision making process. By highlighting best practices in screening and charging, the Center is helping prosecutors end unnecessary charging delays and make prompter charging decisions.

Prosecutorial Discretion Spotlight

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Charging Time
DALLAS Project
Dallas County Screening and Charging

Prosecutorial Discretion Resources

  • In 2019, police across Dallas County asked the District Attorney to prosecute fewer marijuana cases than the year before. This report examines whether the racial disparity in those cases improved at the same time. Fewer, Not Fairer shows that while the number of referrals declined, police were still more likely to refer a Black person for marijuana prosecution than a non-Black person. However, some cities achieved more fairness when their police departments almost entirely stopped requesting marijuana prosecutions altogether. 

  • Budding Change explores what happened when Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot (DA Creuzot) radically changed his office’s policies about the prosecution of first-time misdemeanor marijuana cases. The report concludes that DA Creuzot’s 2019 policies were associated with significant reductions in police enforcement of marijuana misdemeanor laws. As a result, marijuana screening caseloads within the District Attorney’s Office declined substantially. Budding Change shows that prosecutorial policies can have a profound impact on policing behaviors.

  • Data show that Black and White people use marijuana at roughly equal rates. Yet in 2018, in six of Dallas County's biggest cities, Black people were vastly overrepresented in the enforcement of low-level drug crimes. With a look at enforcement trends before the election of District Attorney John Creuzot, this study launches a series of reports about how his reforms have impacted Dallas County.

  • Understanding how prosecutors make their screening and charging decisions is essential to criminal legal reform. This preview report is the first in a series of publications that explores the screening and charging practices of prosecutors in three mid-sized jurisdictions. Through an innovative mixed-methods empirical study, the series provides a holistic account of prosecutors’ charging practices.

Prosecutorial Discretion Experts

Pamela Metzger

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Malia Brink

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Dr. Andrew Davies

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Dr. Victoria Smiegocki

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