A plea bargain is a compromise between defense attorneys and the prosecution on behalf of the defendant. In an effort to avoid a long and costly court trial, the prosecution offers a sentence, in exchange, the defendant agrees to plead guilty and receives a reduction in charges and/or a lesser sentence. Plea bargains are commonplace, 90% of criminal cases are resolved with the use of plea bargaining (book). Established in the 1970's in Brady v. the United States, the legal foundation and constitutionality of plea bargaining has been debated. While there have been many critics of plea bargaining, there have also been many that support the court systems use of plea bargaining. Well, take a look at some of the arguments presented on both sides.
To begin, many people have been opposed to plea bargaining since the conception of its use in the 1970s. One argument presented is that plea bargaining corrupts our justice system by offering leniency to criminals. compromising with criminals, some people feel that justice is not being handed down. Secondly. Another argument presented is that plea bargains increase the chance for innocent defendants to be sentenced due to fear of being convicted to trial. In addition, those
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Supporters argue that plea bargains reduce the strain and financial cost of our court system. Considering that that majority of criminal cases are resolved with the use of plea bargain, these additional cases if not bargain would lead congestion in the court system and force the courts to be backlogged for months, possibly even years. The additional cases that would need to be brought to trial would tremendous increase financial burden on our court system. Furthermore, pleas bargains assist the prosecution in other cases. By offering defendants plea bargains for testifying against a co-defendant, prosecutors can ensure the success of larger