Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

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Plea bargaining is a topic that has been highly debated ever since it was implemented. Plea bargaining can be defined as: “[t]he process whereby the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subject to court approval. It usually involves the defendant’s pleading guilty to a lesser offense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi-count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that possible for the graver charge” (Guidorizzi, p. 192). Some people think that it is a great thing, because if someone confesses that they are guilty right away, then it saves a lot of time and energy. However, I believe that plea bargaining is just something that allows criminals to get off on an easier sentence than if there were no option to take the plea, and therefore, I am against plea bargaining being offered on a regular basis. According to Guidorizzi, pleas make up over 90 percent of all cases, and while that does save the criminal justice system time and effort, it also allows leniency towards criminals, which is not fair to the victims (p. 191). Those confessing to the crime most likely do not confess because they seek rehabilitation, but…show more content…
“Plea bargaining has come to affect almost every aspect of our criminal justice system from the legislative drafting of substantive offenses through the efforts of correctional officials to rehabilitate convicted offenders” (Alschuler, p. 932). Plea bargaining is taking over our criminal justice system, and if it is just given out to basically any criminal, it will not deter criminals as much, because they know that their punishment won’t be too bad if they just take the plea bargain, if they are even caught at all. Plea bargaining needs some reform, or else it will continuously be taken advantage

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