U.S. attorneys' policies for accepting or declining cases for prosecution, using pretrial diversion, and reaching plea agreements are inconsistent and result in disparate treatment of defendants within the Federal criminal justice system. The Attorney General should focus Federal law enforcement resources on priority offenses and ensure that concurrent jurisdiction cases declined for Federal prosecution are referred to State and/or local authorities. The Attorney General should ensure U.S. attorneys' adherence to management information reporting requirements so that caseload data will be accurate. The Attorney General should also establish declination policies that minimize disparities, give more specific guidance on the use of pretrial diversion, and delineate more specific plea agreement policies. The Department should upgrade the Executive Office's capability to evaluate the performance of U.S. Attorneys' Offices and to work with the Department of Justice's Internal Audit Staff to identify where internal audits are needed. Study data, footnotes, and a list of abbreviations are included. Relevant correspondence is appended. (Author summary modified)