FEDERAL PROSECUTORS TOLD TO GET TOUGH

WASHINGTON - Attorney General John Ashcroft on Monday made it tougher
for federal prosecutors to strike plea bargains with criminal
defendants, requiring attorneys to seek the most serious charges
possible in almost all cases.

The policy directive issued by Ashcroft is the latest in a series of
steps the Justice Department has taken in recent months to combat what
it calls dangerously lenient practices by some federal prosecutors and
judges.

The move also expands to the entire gamut of federal crimes the
attorney general's tough stance on the death penalty, which he has
sought in numerous cases over the objections of federal
prosecutors.

"The direction I am giving our U.S. attorneys today is direct and
emphatic," Ashcroft said in a speech in Milwaukee. Except in
"limited, narrow circumstances," he said, federal prosecutors must
seek to bring charges for "the most serious, readily provable
offense" that can be supported by the facts of the case.

Critics in the defense bar and some federal prosecutors said the new
policy would serve only to further centralize authority in the hands
of Washington policy-makers, discourage prosecutors from seeking plea
bargains and ratchet up sentences in criminal cases that may not
warrant them.

"What is driving this," said Gerald D. Lefcourt, past president of
the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, "is that a
tough-on-crime attorney general is pandering to the public, and he
knows that this will play well."

It Pressures Prosecutors

Several federal prosecutors said they were deeply concerned about the
new policy.

A West Coast prosecutor who spoke on condition of anonymity said that
although it might be difficult for officials in Washington to enforce
the policy, it nonetheless puts significant pressure on prosecutors to
explain their actions and most likely will result in fewer plea
bargains in many jurisdictions.

The policy change likely will escalate a debate that has become
increasingly contentious over how prosecutors and judges mete out
justice in the federal courts.

With the backing of many Republicans in Congress, the Justice
Department has sought to impose greater uniformity and
"accountability" in federal cases.

In addition to the expanded use of the death penalty, Ashcroft
announced a plan last month to track data on judges who give lighter
sentences than federal guidelines prescribe.

A decade ago, Attorney General Janet Reno enacted a policy to give
federal prosecutors more discretion over how their cases should be
handled by allowing for an "individualized assessment" of the facts
and circumstances of the case.

But Ashcroft's directive scales back that initiative in an effort to
create what the Justice Department said would be more "transparency"
in federal prosecutions.

Most Cases Plea Bargained

Some 96 percent of the 60,000 cases handled by federal prosecutors in
2001, the last year for which complete figures are available, resulted
in plea bargains, officials said.

But the new policy states that prosecutors must seek the most severe
sentence allowed by law unless there are overriding considerations.

Cases that allow for exceptions include the "substantial assistance"
of a cooperating defendant, the drain on resources that a trial might
cause, and the Justice Department's approval of a "fast-track"
program used to expedite prosecutions, like the type used in Southwest
border states to prosecute illegal immigrants.