ASHCROFT REDUCING PLEA BARGAIN DISCRETION

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors were ordered Monday by Attorney General
John Ashcroft to pursue maximum criminal charges and sentences whenever
possible and to seek lesser penalties through plea bargains only in limited
circumstances.

An Ashcroft memo sent to all 94 U.S. attorneys' offices supersedes policy
during former Attorney General Janet Reno's tenure that allowed prosecutors
greater individual discretion to determine if the charges and potential
punishment fit the crime.

Ashcroft said his intent is to bring greater consistency to criminal
prosecutions around the country.

"It's a direction for the way we prosecute criminal behavior at the federal
level," Ashcroft said Monday after a speech in Cincinnati. "If you violate
a federal law, punishment will be uniform."

The policy change is the latest example of Ashcroft's attempts to bring
greater symmetry - critics say inflexibility - to the federal justice
system. During the summer Ashcroft instructed U.S. attorneys to seek the
death penalty whenever applicable, overruling some who would not, and to
vigorously oppose sentences imposed by judges that are lighter than
recommended by federal guidelines.

Critics predicted the new plea bargain policy will severely limit
prosecutors' options, forcing more defendants to face costly,
time-consuming trials instead of pleading guilty and adding to prison
overcrowding problems through harsher sentences.

"No two crimes, and no two defendants, are exactly alike," said Marc Mauer,
assistant director of The Sentencing Project, a research group that
advocates alternatives to prison.

Gerald Lefcourt, past president of the National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers, said the change "creates a system that is not only
inflexible and problematic, but becomes a sort of immovable object. You're
adding more unfairness to the system."

The order by Ashcroft marks a return to the spirit of the original
instructions for prosecuting cases under federal sentencing guidelines
developed in 1989 by then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh. Those
instructions were rewritten by Reno in the 1990s.

Justice Department officials said the policy, developed by a 15-member
advisory group of U.S. attorneys, provides enough flexibility to deal with
differences in defendants and still ensure that all prosecutors pursue the
same brand of justice.

"The whole purpose is to eliminate the disparity between similarly situated
defendants," said U.S. Attorney Bill Mercer of Montana. "It's very hard to
deter crime if there's a perception that a person isn't going to be held
accountable for his or her actions."

The Ashcroft memo said prosecutors will have a "general duty" to pursue the
most serious crimes they feel confident of proving in court. Plea bargains
involving lesser charges should be limited - there are six specific
exceptions - and would frequently have to be approved in writing by a
supervisor.

The plea-bargain exceptions are:

_When a defendant agrees to provide "substantial assistance" in an
investigation. Ashcroft said the message is, "if defendants will cooperate,
the green light is on for negotiation."

_Under so-called "fast-track" programs aimed at unclogging court dockets in
which certain types of defendants are given a preset charge and sentence
lower than that called for under federal guidelines. These programs, which
will be reviewed individually by the Justice Department, are popular for
common immigration and drug violations in the Southwest.

_When prosecutors decided that the original charges will be tough to prove
in court because of witness access problems, suppressed evidence or some
other reason.

_If the possible sentence would be unaffected by a charge under a lesser
offense.

_When "enhancements" that could result in a longer sentence, such as a
defendant facing multiple charges connected with the main crime, remove any
incentive for the defendant to plead guilty. Enhancements for firearms
offenses, however, would generally have to be included. _On a case-by-case
basis for other reasons with written approval by a supervisor.

Associated Press Writer John Nolan in Cincinnati contributed to this story.

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