ipl-logo

The Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

652 Words3 Pages

The Pros and Cons of Plea Bargaining
Disclaimer
By: LawInfo
When faced with criminal charges, a defendant often has one simple goal. That is, to minimize the potential penalty. Of course, being found innocent at trial, and being aquitted, is the best way to avoid jail time and other penalties. However, going to trial can be risky because it is impossible to predict what a jury will decide. Therefore, many defendants choose to enter a plea bargain agreement with the prosecution.

What is Plea Bargaining?

A plea bargain is an agreement between the prosecutor and the defendant in a criminal case. The prosecutor gives the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty to a lesser charge or to the original charge with less than the maximum sentence. For example, the prosecution and the defense may agree to a misdemeanor charge instead of a felony charge or the parties may agree to a sentence of 12 years instead of 20 years if the recommended sentence for that crime is 10-20 years imprisonment. …show more content…

Both sides will carefully weigh the strength of their case and decide whether it is prudent to go to trial. The prosecution may also consider the publicity surrounding the case and whether there is public pressure to prosecute that particular defendant to the full extent of the law. The defense will consider the individual defendant’s desire to go to trial and the seriousness of the potential sentence.

The Pros of Plea Bargaining

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

Show More
Related

Example Of Larry Servedio Case

619 Words | 3 Pages

The upside of accepting a plea deal usually involves the defendant's pleading guilty to a lesser charge, or to only one of several charges. The agreements allow prosecutors to turn their attention and resources on other cases, and reduce the number of trials that judges need to attend. Though by accepting a plea deal one pleads guilty to one charge which usually results on your record forever because you plead guilty and didn't take your chance of proving your innocence by going to trial. For example if Larry Servedio did not want to accept his plea deal of two consecutive state prison terms of seven-and-a-half years by pleading guilty to two felony counts of second-degree kidnapping and go to trial he would face the possibility of losing the case and be sentenced to longer terms in prison. For the prosecution it saves them time but most important it helps the judges not overcrowd prisons by sentencing criminals to short terms which usually keeps them within their county lines.

Read More

Why Did Amy Albritton End Up In Jail

588 Words | 3 Pages

1. What new vocabulary words did you come across? What are their definitions? Ambiguous.- having several possible meanings.

Read More

Is Plea Bargaining Ethical Analysis

721 Words | 3 Pages

Plea bargaining is an unethical practice because it can force innocent men to plead guilty, defense lawyers often can't see the evidence in time to advise their client, and it lets criminals get away with a lighter sentence than they should. The innocent pleading guilty The concept of an innocent man pleading guilty was far fetched in 19941. Which is truly surprising.

Read More

John Pfaff Lock In Sparknotes

1080 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More

Compare And Contrast Brady Vs United States

157 Words | 1 Pages

The United States Supreme Court did not see a difference between a defendant who says he is innocent while entering a plea bargain and a defendant who admits to the crime. The Court cited Brady v. United States. In Brady v. United States it was held that “a guilty plea which would not have been plead for unless the defendant wanted to avoid the death penalty and to lower the maximum penalty to life imprisonment was not forced under the Fifth Amendment.” The plea was a voluntary and an intelligent alternative for Alford. The Court took into thought the evidence provided by witnesses which showed his guilt.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargain

978 Words | 4 Pages

Plea bargains are negotiations between the prosecutor and the criminal defendant. In this negotiation, the criminal defendant consents to pleading guilty. When the criminal defendant takes the guilty plea, he or she is able receive reductions in their charges or sentences. There are pros and cons of plea bargains, but these bargains can be doing more harm than good. Plea bargaining is a simple process but can have long term repercussions.

Read More

Plea Bargain: Ethical And Legal Case Study

281 Words | 2 Pages

Prosecutor’s reason to incorporate a plea-bargain choose to expedite a case due to reasons such as inadequate evidence or because the prosecutor simply wants the confession from the accused. These would be legitimate reasoning to incorporate a plea bargain. When plea bargains are

Read More

Alford Court Case Analysis

1183 Words | 5 Pages

The most common agreement and concession between the two parties is often for the defendant to plead guilty to a particular charge (or charges) in return for a less serious charge (or charges), a dismissal of other charges, or even a lesser sentence. As an example, the defendant in a felony theft charge might have the chance to plead guilty to a misdemeanor theft charge. This lessens the workload on the court, it still gives the prosecution a conviction, and it gives the defendant a lesser sentence.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

628 Words | 3 Pages

A plea-bargaining is when a prosecutor offers a reduced charge or decrease the number of charge. The defendant come to an agreement with the prosecutor to plea guilty to the sentence they are on trial. The defendant pleads guilty to the crime they are being changed with in order to avoid a trail and avoid more severe sentence. Plea bargaining consents of a judge that authorize the tail which accepts or denies the defendants guilty plea. A defense attorney is who advocates for the defendant to protect the right of the individual.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

264 Words | 2 Pages

Purpose: One of the purposes of the ban on plea bargaining was to create a justice system where individuals could be properly charged, tried and sentenced. Another reason was to set the roles of each level, police should investigate, prosecutors try the case and judges decide the sentence.

Read More

Plea Bargaining In Criminal Cases

601 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

1648 Words | 7 Pages

There are various arguments in support of plea bargaining; for example, it is beneficial because it helps the state and the court contribute with caseloads. This process allows the prosecutor’s work load decrease; this lets them prepare for more dangerous trials and leaving the easy charges to settle through. “A quickly reached plea bargaining may give victims the satisfaction of having the case closed quickly; in addition, victims may not want to testify or risk the possibility that the prosecution will not succeed in obtaining conviction(Seigel).” Because trial cases are congested to schedule, plea bargaining helps the scheduling process less jammed. The main advantage for someone accepting a plea bargaining is that a judge can ease the need to schedule and hold a trial on an agenda that may already be overloaded.

Read More

Plea Bargains In Criminal Law

311 Words | 2 Pages

A “Plea bargain” is an agreement between the prosecutor, the defendant’s attorney and the defendant. In return for the defendant entering a plea of guilty to a criminal charge, the prosecutor agrees to recommend to the judge a particular penalty. Plea bargaining allows the prosecutor to obtain guilty pleas in cases that might otherwise go to trial. The prosecution is relieved of the burden of proving the case beyond a reasonable doubt at trial and the defendant receives a specific resolution of the charges against him.

Read More

Plea Bargaining Advantages

244 Words | 1 Pages

A plea bargain is an optional agreement that occurs during a criminal case between a prosecutor and defendant. These agreements are options for the defendant to take rather than taking their case to trial. Ninety-seven percent of all federal cases and ninety-four of all state cases are all settled by plea bargains() Plea bargaining has become a normal process when it comes to court cases. Although every individual has their own beliefs, plea bargaining helps out our criminal justice system but in contrast it is taking away from the value of the criminal justice system. Just like in every story we are faced with two different sides a positive and a negative.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

696 Words | 3 Pages

One of the best quotes I found on the motivations behind the use of plea bargains comes from former President Jimmy Carter, in which he points out that “In many courts, plea‐bargaining serves the convenience or the judge and lawyers, not the ends of justice, because the courts lack the time to give everyone a fair trial,” (“Excerpts from Carter’s Speech to the Bar Association,” 1978). The plea bargaining system is convenient, not just. Plea bargains are not negotiated for the best interest of the defendants, but for the prosecutors and judges looking to funnel cases out of the courthouse as quickly as possible. This lack of care for the defendant obviously leads to mistakes. Eighteen percent “of known exonerees pleaded guilty to crimes they didn’t commit,” (Why Innocent People Are Pleading Guilty, 2018).

Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

Related Topics

Open Document