Video

The Anatomy of Discretion (Podcast 3 of 4) Interview with Judge Theodore A. McKee

This is the third in a four-part series discussing findings from The Anatomy of Discretion, a Vera Institute study of factors that influence prosecutors’ decisions in criminal cases. In this part, Judge Theodore A. McKee discusses the balance between individualized treatment of defendants and consistency in decision making across similar cases. McKee is the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and previously served on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania. In other podcasts in this series, one of the study’s authors summarizes its main findings; a prosecutor discusses the effects of resource constraints; and a law professor discusses the balance between strength of evidence and other considerations.