Department of Justice

Such prosecutions of large numbers of individual de minimus cases are initiated with the intent of receiving widespread publicity, thereby deterring large numbers of similar offenses. The important point for purposes of this report is, however, that relatively minor offenses not initially prosecuted because of written declination policies are sometimes simply deferred until a significant number of similar cases accumulate.

In summary, the written declination guidelines described in this report should be examined in light of their origins and their actual application. They describe the rough contours of the landscape, but they do not define its precise details. Further information on how written declination guidelines are applied in practice will be contained in the Department's final report.

III. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

This study has examined the written declination guidelines and related material provided by United States Attorneys. Among the principal findings and conclusions of the study are the following:

Written declination guidelines of some description

are currently being used by 83 U.S. Attorney's offices.

. Written declination guidelines are promulgated in order
to channel investigative and prosecutorial resources
into high priority activities and away from low priority
areas and they appear to be performing that useful
function effectively.

. Written declination guidelines are typically prepared
by U.S. Attorneys after consultation with federal
investigative agencies.

Many specific factors are taken into account in formulating and applying written declination guidelines, including the following:

Written declination guidelines exist for over forty categories of criminal offenses and are most frequently applied to the following categories of offenses:

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The degree of diversity among the written declination
policies of different districts varies from one category
of offense to another; for some offenses, written decli-
nation policies are very similar, while for others,
declination cut-off points in terms of property value
or other factors are widely distributed.

I Without exception, written declination guidelines
provide that unusual or aggravating circumstances
should be considered before any complaint alleging
a criminal offense is declined.

These findings and conclusions may be supplemented or qualified by the additional data which the Department is currently collecting and analyzing. The Department, through the Criminal Division and the Executive Office of United States Attorneys, will continue to monitor written declination guidelines on a regular basis. Additional Departmental actions will be considered as additional information concerning declination policies and practices is received and analyzed.

APPENDIX

SUMMARY OF WRITTEN DECLINATION

GUIDELINES BY CATEGORY OF OFFENSE