Prosecutorial Discretion and the Current Status and Applicability of Accelerated Rehabiliative Disposition Under the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice System

Authors

Edward J. Borkowski

Abstract

Through pre-trial diversion programs, modern criminal justice systems have foregone criminal prosecution or incarceration of certain defendants in favor of correctional reform and social restoration. Under Pennsylvania's diversion program, "Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition," the defendants considered eligible for this alternative process are generally first offenders charged with nonviolent crimes. Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure 175 and 176 provide that it is the district attorney, exclusively, who determines which defendants are candidates for diversion. The author examines some of the more recent judicial attempts to define the proper scope of this discretionary power, as well as those attempting to determine the extent of prosecutorial power to deny expungement of a defendant's arrest record following successful completion of the program.

First Page

253

Recommended Citation

Edward J. Borkowski, Prosecutorial Discretion and the Current Status and Applicability of Accelerated Rehabiliative Disposition Under the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice System, 24 Duq. L. Rev. 253 (1985).
Available at: https://dsc.duq.edu/dlr/vol24/iss1/5