The role of discretion in the American Criminal Justice System significantly impacts the outcome of a case. It lies in the heart of the Criminal Justice System to the extent which the subjective ruling of an official can determine what will happens to a suspect, defendant or convict (Vorenberg). What is discretion? In the books, discretion is best defined as the lawful ability of an agent of government to exercise choice in making a decision (Neubauer, p.132). Discretion begins from the time a crime is committed until after a sentence is imposed, in general it’s exercised once a key decision is made (Neubauer, p.132). Once charges have been filed, a lower court judge must set the amount of bail and decide whether sufficient probable cause exists
