“If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you did not eat him.” (Hurbungs, Pravinee) For years, the plea bargain has given the image of being a fair and ethical way to avoid a trial. But is the plea bargain just that? An image of justice? This is a view that many opposers of the plea bargain believe, including myself. The plea bargain is an opportunity for a defendant presented by the prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge or to the original charge with less than the maximum sentence.14 In theory, the charge presented limits the penalties faced if the defendant decided to go to trial. The earliest form of the plea bargain in the United …show more content…
Most of the charges are resolved through bargaining between the prosecution and the defense. This gives leeway to prosecutorial discretion. Prosecutorial discretion is that the fact that under American law, government prosecuting attorneys have nearly absolute powers.4 A prosecuting attorney has power on various matters including those relating to choosing whether or not to bring criminal charges, deciding the nature of charges, plea bargaining and sentence recommendation. So a prosecutor, not a judge or jury, has almost complete control over criminal charging. Allowing for prosecutors to have so much authority, is allowing them to discriminate. Prosecutorial discretion has resulted in harsher penalties for those defendants who go to trial. They are able to discriminate past race, religion, gender, if the defendant had a record, and severity of …show more content…
Plea bargains don’t have the same restrictions. Judges aren’t normally allowed to partake in plea bargains, and written records of a deal are almost never required. In plea bargains, prosecutors offer a break in exchange for a guilty plea. There is no standard for the amount of evidence or proof needed to present a plea bargain. The only restriction on a prosecutor while presenting a plea bargain is they can’t use illegal threats. A prosecutor can’t say, “If you don’t accept this plea bargain, we will shoot