prosecutorial discretion

A big part of what I do is reviewing police reports and deciding whether to file charges or not- and if so, what charges to file. Just because a person is cited or arrested by the police doesn't mean that the DA's office is going to file a criminal complaint or petition. I send a significant number of police reports back to the agencies who submitted them, usually because I need more info or because the evidence is just plain insufficient. Even when I believe that a crime probably was committed, there may be reasons not to file. This function is called prosecutorial discretion. I was reading an article on this last week and was inspired by the following excerpt:

Nearly 70 years ago, as then-United States Attorney General, Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson offered these eloquent words about prosecutor decision making:

The prosecutor has more control over life, liberty, and reputation than any other person in America. His discretion is tremendous... [T]he citizen's safety lies in the prosecutor who tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility.

extra Turkey Trot pics

The pro photography company at the Turkey Trot post low quality images from the race on their website with the hope that you'll purchase the high quality ones. Here are the low quality ones... =)


One of the challenges was created because there were so many of us on one narrow road. A lot of the race we were weaving in and out of runners who were practically shoulder-to-shoulder, trying to avoid the swinging elbows and not step on anyone's toes or heels.

Did I mention how wet it was?

Home stretch baby! Most folks walked or just jogged across the finish line, but Kyle and I were full on sprinting.

And in a completely unrelated vein, I just thought I would post this pic from "Ryan," a character from the TV comedy "The Office." It's from the 2008 The Office calendar which a couple of probation officers at work had hanging in their office. They gave it to me because they said I look like him. I kinda see the resemblance. Another guy at work who isn't familiar with the show saw it and thought it was an old pic of me at first. What do you think?

Where's my bailout? I want a bailout!

The language is a bit colorful but the message rings painfully true. Click the image to enlarge the text at the bottom.

Turkey Trot '08

One of my roommates invited me to spend Thanksgiving with some of his family in Southern CA. He also talked me into participating in the 31st annual Dana Point Turkey Trot 10 kilometer race. It was a great experience, despite (because of? :-) a torrential downpour during the run and standing water all over the road. I'm not in any kind of running shape, but I did it! I got VERY sore the next day, and the day after, and the day after that. I'd do it again though.

There were over three thousand runners, including people running in costumes as turkeys, Pilgrims, Indians, a banana- you name it!

A couple of pics:

The "before pic," around 6 am Thanksgiving morning. The other guy is my roommate Kyle, with two of his cousins on the right and a friend of theirs on the left.

Near the start. It rained hard!

Runner with a Pilgrim hat. I saw a guy in a banana costume wringing it out a few times during the race =)

Fresh fruit after the finish. Oranges never tasted so good!


The "after" shot, where we parked the car at McDonald's. We arrived late, parked pretty far away, and had to jog like half a mile to get to the start on time!