Law On The Books: A Case Study

“Law on the books is found in constitutions, laws enacted by legislative bodies, regulations issued by administrative agencies, and cases decided by courts, little doubt exists that decisions by the U.S Supreme court have far-reaching ramifications” (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). On the other hand “The law in action perspective stresses the importance of discretion. At virtually every step of the process, a choice has to be made whether to move the case to the next step or stop it now. These decisions are made by the legal actors- police, prosecutors, and judges, for example. They are also made by ordinary citizens as well, whether in their role as victims, witnesses, or jurors” (Neubauer & Fradella, 2014). The law on the books is basically the
rules that the court has to apply but not every situation is the same. That is when the law in action comes in and the judge has to use their discretion to determine if the case is to be continued to the next step or stop. For example when a doctor is treating a patient. The books may state for every individual that has this certain disease, give them this certain medicine. The book clearly states every step the doctor has to go through to cure this disease. this resembles the law on books. In this case, the patient is allergic to that medicine and there are complications. In this case, the doctor has to use his discretion to determine what the treatment will be. The doctor’s discretion and new medicine resemble the law in action. In reality court, the judge has to use his discretion on a daily basis. The court is expected to run smoothly and efficiently. Many suspects are offered plea deals so their case wouldn’t take much time to court. The law in action aids the court in ruling out the cases.