Answer to Question 1
Student answers will vary; however, certain points should be addressed. These points might include:
Due process and equal protection must always be preserved when decisions are made.
It is difficult if not impossible to allow total decision making discretion absent any guidelines and still maintain any consistency.
A lack of consistency will lead to public confusion and public distrust.
Fairness is often subject to interpretation, so inconsistent application of rules will lead to innumerable lawsuits and controversies.
Workload, time, and costs will limit an agency's ability to do individual investigations in every case.
Too much discretionary leeway can lead to the influx of politics into agency decision making.
General potential discretionary abuse situations might include:
If Elian were granted asylum solely because it's better to live in a democracy rather than a dictatorship, might it be also true that a rich parent should get custody of a child rather than the poor parent because it's better to have money than not?
Might a divorced parent who remarries get custody over the single-parent ex-spouse solely because a two-adult home is often more stable than a one-parent home?
Although unconstitutional, might an absence of guidelines lead to the subtle reintroduction of race, sex, religion, and other attributes into decision-making in a covert or indirect fashion?
Answer to Question 2
The pocket veto is the veto of a congressional bill by the president by retaining it until Congress is no longer in session, neither signing nor vetoing it. The effect of such inaction is to nullify the legislation without affirmatively vetoing it. The pocket veto is also available to governors under some state constitutions.