Plea- bargaining is something that is happening in our court systems every day. Plea-bargaining is a choice that defendants are making when they don’t have many options. Can plea- bargains change your life? What effects will it have if you decide to do a plea? Well, plea bargains are not for everyone.
Does plea- bargaining violate due process and is it unfair because it eliminates the right to trial by jury?
What is due process? Fair treatment through the regular judicial system, especially as a citizen entitlement. This means that everyone that is charged with a crime has the right to go to court and prove their innocence. What is a plea bargaining? According to Nolo Cotendere dictionary, a plea bargain is an agreement between a defendant
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The innocent defendant will feel like there is no hope for them, with that being said they will accept any plea bargain that might not be fair so that they don’t have to spend an enormous amount of time behind bars. Now just because a prosecutor does their does job, does not mean that the procedures that they are following are unethical or illegal. With Plea bargains this relieves the court of a trial, and the prosecutor does not have to prove the case with a reasonable doubt. According to David Shetokas in Plea Bargaining in Criminal Cases most cases tend to plea. It states that 97% of federal cases will take a deal. Plea bargains are growing to resolve many cases. (Shetokas, 2014) According to the legal dictionary the sixth amendment to the U.S. Constitution affords criminal defendants seven discrete personal liberties: (1) the right to a Speedy Trial; (2) a public trial is allowed (3) have the right to have a fair jury; (4) knowledge of charges that are pending; (5) being able to cross-examine and confront the eyewitness; (6) the right to compel favorable witnesses to testify at trial through the subpoena power of the judiciary; and (7) legal rights to have an attorney.( legaldictionary). With the fourteen …show more content…
If plea bargains did not take place, then the court system would probably shut down. The courts would not be able to handle all the cases that would come through. Prosecutors are over worked now; plea bargains help them reduce their case. (Sanderfur) Prosecutors will be to put their hearts and souls into cases that really need their attention. Lastly, defendants will be able to escape the expensive fees of going to court. Based on the information that was obtained by Marcus Rucker at least thirty percent of cases tend to take the plea. In most cases, there is some evidence, and they would prefer to get a lesser charge and spend less time in jail, then to take a chance. If they do a plea deal, then it would be better for them, and maybe they will get off on some things, that they should be indicted. Marcus Rucker informed me that the ones that are innocent and know that have nothing on them they will go to trial and take that chance because they know that they will be proven innocent.
In conclusion in my opinion plea bargaining could be perfect for some people that have not committed a crime but the evidence against them is too much, and they know that there is a greater possibility that they will be convicted of the offense. In some cases, people get off easy and do not have to suffer like that
Legally, there is no valid answer to that question, a fact, which is demonstrated by the following quote from Bordenkircher. “[W]hatever might be the situation in an ideal world, the fact is that the guilty plea and the often concomitant plea bargain are important components of this country's criminal justice system.” In other words, the legal system depends on plea bargaining and plea bargaining depends on the ability of prosecutors to threaten defendants. Consequently, the Court’s reasoning is not based on a legal foundation, but a practical one. Regardless of how essential plea bargaining may be to the functioning of the judicial system, “implementation of a strategy calculated solely to deter the exercise of constitutional rights is not a constitutionally permissible exercise of discretion” There are many practices which would make the criminal justice system function more efficiently.
There are quite a few things I am not allowed to discuss, due to confidentiality, but the things that I can discuss are the observations of court hearings, pre-trials, and revocation hearings. I found it to be very interesting how the judge informs the offender of his or her rights under the United States Constitution before the offender states whether guilty or not and that if the offender pleads guilty that his or her rights are then taken and would rest in the federal courts hands. Usually when the offender pleads guilty, they are under oath, being recorded, and tend to get the lesser sentence, but that is not always the case. It just depends on the case and what all is involved as far as the crime committed and the offender’s history. If the offender pleads not guilty, then there will be a trial that forms on a later date.
For the defendant, the most significant benefit to plea bargaining is to take away the uncertainty of a criminal trial and to avoid the maximum sentence. Society also benefits from plea bargaining since the agreements lessen court congestion and free up prosecutors to handle more cases. The Cons of Plea
• The Constitution is weakened by the excessive use of plea-bargaining to avoid a trial. Research has shown that criminal defendants who exercise their Sixth Amendment right to trail by jury are more severely punished than those who accept plea bargains (Devers, 2011, p. 2). It is assumed that plea-bargaining weakens the criminal justice system by allowing violent criminals to plea out of serious charges and putting the disadvantaged and potentially innocent or partially innocent in a position where exercising their constitutional right to a trial by jury is too risky of an option. Prosecutors are required by the state to carry the burden and prosecute the accused.
But they fail to realize that the system we have now throws anyone in jail no matter if the person committed the crime or not. They also fail to realize that the current system sentencing isn't organized or fair because there are people out there innocent and people who don’t deserve that time that was given for petty crimes. The current system doesn’t seek for justice, they see everyone who gets arrested as a criminal and feels they should be thrown away for a very long time and that isn't fair. Sentencing reforming is highly recommended due to the outrageous modern sentencing practices we have today. People go to jail or maybe even prison for such petty crimes that doesn't deserve the many years that were given to them.
In the United States court system, many criminal cases are not resolved in a timely manner. One of the more common ways in which many cases are resolved quickly is through plea bargaining. Plea bargaining is defined as an agreement between defense attorneys and prosecutors. (Spohn & Hemmens, 2012) Alschuler (1979) describes plea bargaining as the self-conviction act of a defendant. Today, approximately ninety percent of defendants plead guilty because of plea bargaining.
The Constitution states “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.” ( US Constitution) As you can see, the Bill of Rights 6th Amendment allows the accused to understand the charges against them: the accused is told what he/ she is being accused of, who is accusing them, and is allowed to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. Moreover, it allows for the movement of rightful convictions.
The Constitution guarantees rights and fair treatment for everyone. The rights that the Founders outlined in the Constitution include those reserved for the federal government as well as those reserved for the people. These rights have been altered throughout the years, and some continue to be debated. Policies have been put in place to deal with those who decide to disturb the peace and break the laws. The structure of America’s society relies on these rights and laws.
Due process is the fair treatment of the judicial system by the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments. This is the constitutional guarantee that one will be given the opportunity to be heard before they are deprived of their life and (discharge from all restraints or obligations unless convicted). (Schmalleger 631-632) And also guaranteed that the law will not be unfair in anyway and that the government will not in any way deprive any person(s) of their constitutional rights.
Prosecutors have the power to send offenders away which allows them to make harsh decisions. They offer plea bargains to offenders which often will enable them to do time in prison. Pfaff stated that "as long as prosecutors simply use the tough laws as a bargaining chip, not real punishment, legislators can reap the political benefits of looking tough on crime while avoiding difficult financial decisions" (Pfaff, 2017, P136). Prosecutors offer a plea bargain to get rid of cases quickly and not allow offenders to go to trial because they might receive more prison
Since the courts are backlogged and many public defenders and judges being overworked, this causes plea bargaining to be used repeatedly. According to Walker et al. (2018), plea bargaining leaves many people no option but to plea guilty even when this is not their best option. This is due to a multitude of reasons but mainly to receive a lesser charge. For example, a felony and little time in jail may be better than risking multiple felonies and an excessive amount of time in jail.
The constitution mandates certain duties of the justice system—adequate representation, the right to an attorney, etc.—which require public funding. Today, relevant stakeholders petition for an increase in that funding because the current budget is inadequate. If the current justice system is deficient financially, imagine the cost for a system without plea bargaining—It would require an astronomical increase in public funding. The final reason, is that plea bargaining aids mutual interests.
6th Amendment I personally find that out of all the amendments the most important one is the 6th amendment. Reason being that it is crucial in aiding the judicial process from wrongly persecuting innocent people and it allows our democratic process to continue without preventing innocent people for taking the fall while punishing those who harm it. It keeps justice in check, keeping laws in line and rulings to be fair. The 6th amendment helps the defendants have an attorney when they are unable to afford one.
People plead guilty for crimes that are not committed by them to avoid trial, but by doing so the right decision wasn’t made.
The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there.