Plea Bargaining In Criminal Justice

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The process of plea bargaining is very important to the criminal justice system. This process occurs when the defendant agrees to settle a case out of court with certain rules, guidelines, and conditions. It also ensures prosecutors seek justice for the families who have lost a loved one and habitually helps to avoid lengthy trials and debatably help to manage the caseload that passes through every court. However, the title role of the plea bargain is often misjudged and frequently critiqued in the criminal justice system as they are employed at the cost of giving potential offenders more lenient sentencing and in some cases and risking the condemnation of innocent defendants. In this essay, we will find out how does it affects the…show more content…
According to Goff, “sentence bargaining is a former type of plea that involves the reduction of a sentence in return for a plea of guilty or information” (407). For example, if the defendant is facing severe charges and does not want to chance of receiving a maximum sentence during trial, they may enter a guilty plea in order to serve the least amount of time possible. “Charge bargaining is a prosecutor’s decision to reduce the number of charges against the accused in return for a plea of guilty” (Goff, 1997, 403). With a charge bargain, the benefit is to the defendant because the risk of serving a significant sentence is decreased, which allows the criminal record to be less severe along with permitting him or her to assimilate into society and begin moving towards a sincere lifestyle. However, the negative effect of this kind of plea bargain would be for the victims and their loved ones, who usually do not find any sense of satisfaction from witnessing the traumatic experience. In a fact bargaining, “the prosecutor decides not to introduce certain facts about the offense into the court record” (Goff, 1997,
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