The Department of Justice’s New Criminal Charging Policies

Nearly every administration for the last forty-five years has issued its own policy for the charging, plea bargaining, and sentencing of federal crimes. The current Trump administration is no exception. Moving more quickly than any prior administration, on the day after the inauguration Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove issued an “interim” charging policy. Two weeks later—on the day after she was confirmed as attorney general—Pam Bondi issued her own policy memorandum, which largely tracks the terms of the interim policy, delineates the Department of Justice’s plea bargaining and sentencing policies, and adds details on the Department of Justice’s prosecution priorities. This article briefly reviews the history of Justice Department policy memoranda and describes the most pertinent features of the memos issued by the new Trump administration.