NCJ Number
60146
Date Published
1979
Length
26 pages
Annotation
THE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND IS PRESENTED FOR GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES USED IN PAROLE DECISIONMAKING BY UNITED STATES PAROLE COMMISSIONERS.
Abstract
WHILE DISCRETION IN JUDICIAL DECISIONMAKING MAY GIVE RISE TO DISPARITY, DISCRETION IS ESSENTIAL, IF THE VARIABILITY OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH CASE ARE TO BE ACCOMMODATED IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. DISCRETION, HOWEVER, MUST BE CONSTRAINED BY DECISION RULES AND PROCEDURES. THERE ARE THREE ELEMENTS IN A DECISION MADE BY AN INDIVIDUAL IN A SOCIALLY CONSTRAINED ENVIRONMENT: DECISIONMAKING POLICY, UNIQUE CASE ELEMENTS IN THE PARTICULAR DECISION, AND PERSPECTIVES OF THE INDIVIDUAL DECISIONMAKER. POLICY AND APPROACHES TO DEFINING AN INDIVIDUAL CASE ARE THE FACTORS MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO MANIPULATION IN INFLUENCING DECISIONMAKING. POLICY IS A SET OF DECISION RULES WHICH EVOLVE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME IN A PARTICULAR AREA OF DECISIONMAKING. PROCEDURES, AS CONTRASTED WITH POLICY, ACCOMMODATE THE UNUSUAL CASE, AS THEY ASSURE FLEXIBILITY IN THE DECISIONMAKING PROCESS. FOUR CLASSES OF PROCEDURES HAVE BEEN USED TO ASSURE THE ACCOMODATION OF VARIETY WHILE CONSTRAINING THE DECISIONMAKER FROM CAPRICIOUSNESS: THE STIPULATION THAT DECISIONMAKERS GIVE REASONS FOR THEIR DECISIONS, THE SUBSTITUTION OF A PANEL FOR INDIVIDUAL DESCIONMAKERS, THE CREATION OF REVIEW BODIES TO CONSIDER APPEALS AFTER A DECISION, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ACCOUNTABILITY BY REQUIRING DECISIONMAKERS TO REPORT TO VARIOUS PUBLIC BODIES. SHOULD THERE BE PUBLIC OR INSTITUTIONAL DISSATISFACTION WITH THE KINDS OF DECISIONS MADE BY PARTICULAR CRIMINAL JUSTICE BODIES OR PERSONNEL, THEN POLICY (DECISION RULES) AND PROCEDURES FOR APPROACHING INDIVIDUAL CASES CAN BE EXAMINED TO DETERMINE HOW DECISIONS OF THE CURRENT TYPE ARE MADE, AND NEW POLICIES AND PROCEDURES CAN BE FORMULATED TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED QUALITY OF DECISIONS. BY THIS APPROACH, DISCRETION IS PRESERVED WHILE THE RANGE OF DECISION OUTCOMES IS CONTROLLED. (RCB)