DISCRETION
discretion (di-skresh-<<schwa>>n).1. Wise conduct and management; cautious discernment;
prudence. 2. Individual judgment; the power of free decision-making.
sole discretion.An individual’s power to make decisions without anyone else’s advice or
3.Criminal & tort law. The capacity to distinguish between right and wrong, sufficient to
make a person responsible for his or her own actions. [Cases: Criminal Law 46. C.J.S. Criminal
Law §§ 96–98, 113.] 4. A public official’s power or right to act in certain circumstances according
to personal judgment and conscience, often in an official or representative capacity. — Also
termed discretionary power.
administrative discretion.A public official’s or agency’s power to exercise judgment in the
discharge of its duties. [Cases: Administrative Law and Procedure 324, 754. C.J.S. Public
Administrative Law and Procedure §§ 60, 206, 223.]
judicial discretion.The exercise of judgment by a judge or court based on what is fair under
the circumstances and guided by the rules and principles of law; a court’s power to act or not act
when a litigant is not entitled to demand the act as a matter of right. — Also termed legal
discretion. [Cases: Courts 26. C.J.S. Courts §§ 3, 64–65, 67.]
prosecutorial discretion.A prosecutor’s power to choose from the options available in a
criminal case, such as filing charges, prosecuting, not prosecuting, plea-bargaining, and
recommending a sentence to the court. [Cases: Criminal Law 29(3); District and Prosecuting
Attorneys 8. C.J.S. District and Prosecuting Attorneys §§ 20–21, 29–30.] [Blacks Law 8th]