catch and release

catch and release (uncountable)

1. (fishing) A variety of angling where the fish are released after capture, as a conservation measure.
2. The immigration policy of releasing illegal immigrants while they await a hearing, rather than detaining them.
3. (law) The practice of a patent holding company buying a patent, offering a license to its members, and then selling or donating the patent after a certain period.
4. The practice by police of apprehending someone but then letting them go without making an arrest.
   • 2018, Derek B. Miller, American By Day, page 208:

     "That's an order. And I want you to personally go into that clubhouse over there and arrest somebody." "For what?" "Something illegal, preferably. But anything will do. Catch and release is fine. Just . . . go catch. […]

   • 2022, Nick Adams, The Most Dangerous President in History:

     "While it's catch-and-release for domestic terrorists in antifa and BLM, the people who breached the Capitol on January 6 are being abused. Some even being held for 23-hours-a-day ^[sic] in solitary confinement," [Majorie Taylor] Greene said in May 2021.

5. (archaeology) The practice of replacing artifacts in their original location after examining and cataloguing them.