Plea Bargaining Research Paper

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Plea Bargaining In today’s criminal justice system plea bargaining is a very long standing and effective choice in sentencing for both the defendant and the issuing prosecutor. Plea bargains are an arranged agreement or settlement between a defendant and a prosecutor in which the defendant is forced to plead guilty for the crimes they are being charged or accused for in exchange for either shorter sentencing or some other form of less harsh punishment. This seems to be a huge bonus for the defendant but in reality is a win for the prosecutor and justice system. In my opinion the plea bargain system, although on paper is very effective, does not fix the problem in the long run. Unless the defendant is receiving a life sentence or is leading…show more content…
Sentence bargaining is the less visited form of bargaining as its consequences are not always as clear for the defendant as they should be. In some states sentence bargaining is not even allowed because in some eyes it is a scam by the prosecutors to kill two birds with one stone. Sentence bargaining, unlike charge bargaining is when a defendant chooses to plead guilty for a crime and in return is promised a shorter sentence or something along the lines of a less harsh prison. On the other hand charge bargaining is to plea for less chargers against the defendant. In my opinion I can see why a judge would not allow sentence bargaining. I think that sentence bargaining can have very negative outcomes and shows the judge that this person just committed a terrible crime and that the defendant can sleep well at night knowing he or she got away with that crime and received a shorter sentence as an add-on. This may not be the way the judge sees it but this is the way I see it. An example of sentence bargaining is a defendant pleads guilty to murder and instead of receiving life in prison or the death penalty receives 50 years with the chance of parole. Fact…show more content…
Some advantages of plea bargaining for the defendant are having far fewer crimes on his/hers criminal record. This can help when that person has been rehabilitated and is seeking assistance in the future. For the judge, prosecutor and other justice officials involved, some advantages are shorter time spent on cases, cases solved quicker, and avoiding media attention. Some disadvantages of plea bargaining and in most opinions the most common disadvantage is when an innocent person ends up pleading guilty to a crime they didn’t commit. Another disadvantage is that these bargains lead to poor case work by prosecutors and by this I mean that they become lazy by knowing that the defendant will accept a plea bargain and it will have them not doing their job correctly. Plea Bargain

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