2013 Theses Doctoral

Essays on the Discretion of Prosecutors in the Legal Realm

Reuben, Alicja K.

This dissertation contains three chapters that describe the discretion of prosecutors in different ways. The first is a quantitative study that measures how many different interpretations a statute has and how that affects conviction rate. The second is an experiment that has mock prosecutors act out a courtroom situation to see if they select a law that is more just or one that gives them a higher economic pay-off. The third is a qualitative article that uses interviews with prosecutors and a survey to answer questions that are not addressed in the other two chapters. All of the chapters complement each other.