What Is The Role Of Plea Bargaining In Criminal Justice
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.
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.
Plea bargaining, synonym to the plea agreement as a number would call it, is an agreement in a criminal case between a prosecutor and a defendant in a case, whereby the defendant complies to plead guilty to a specific charge and in return the prosecutor agrees to give the defendant some privilege. The defendant could plead guilty to a less serious charge or just to one of the many charges in exchange of dismissal for other charges. There are different types of bargaining such as plea, count, charge, and sentence bargaining. However, there is a contrast between charge bargaining and sentence bargaining. In charge bargaining, the defendant pleads guilty to a less serious case than the initial charge while in sentence bargaining, the defendant agrees to plead guilty acknowledging in advance what verdict will be given.
PLEA BARGAINING Plea bargaining is a process of negotiation and results in a plea agreement between the defendant and the prosecutor for lesser charges. Basically, plea bargaining circumvents the trial process by evading more serious charges. About 97% of federal cases and 94% of state cases are disposed of by this method without ever going to trial. There can be advantages and disadvantages to this.
Here is the first problem that needs to be addressed, the Sixth Amendment, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial…” only thing fast are plea bargains, but they are surely not fair. The problem is we need plea bargains, because if not then we be having court cases running 24/7, and one judge would be hearing 100 cases a day. This is why plea bargains account for roughly 90% of all criminal cases. Here are three reasons why plea bargains are supposed to be in
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.
Many people argue against plea bargaining; when in reality, it is a needed component for the functioning of the criminal justice system. The overall process of plea bargaining has many players and components. The plea bargain process can begin
Plea bargains are beneficial to the prosecution because it reduces the overall costs of the criminal prosecution, devotes more time to serious cases, the administrative efficiency of the courts is greatly improved, and recourses can be devoted to cases that need greater attention. The defendant also avoids possible detention and an extended trial and may receive a reduced sentence. I believe that the defendant benefits more from a plea bargain because it would create a better outcome for them in the long run. I think we should only allow plea bargains for misdemeanors. Murders and other serious offenders should not be allowed this right to help their future.
Prosecutors have the very important job of representing the people in a court of law on both state and federal levels. Prosecutors are under obligation to execute the law on both federal and state levels. However, the discretion that they are afforded under United States law gives them nearly absolute and unreviewable powers to choose whether or not to bring forth criminal charges, and also what charges to bring for cases when the evidence is enough to those justify charges. Plea bargaining is another area in which falls under a prosecutor’s vast discretionary powers, they can choose to bring full charges against the defendant or they can choose to show leniency by reducing the charges or dismissing the charges altogether. The incredible amount of discretion that prosecutors have in the criminal justice system places them
The positive of the guilty plea is a controversial aspect of the criminal justice systems. He helps to solves the cases faster, speed up legal procedures, eliminate the number of cases in the court. Save time and money to the government. In addition, reduce the number of people in prisons. People who accepted plea bargaining, some of them get a probation, and can go home.
The sad truth behind the justice system today is that if the defendant doesn’t have money, they have little to no hope of getting through their cases free or in a timely fashion. As people are being stored in jail, valuable money is being wasted. The pretrial services established to cut down on overpopulation are not being used efficiently. Although the justice system is still a work in progress, guidelines have not been established in crucial areas allowing judges to throw bonds at defendants like tennis balls with no specific
Plea barging is an important part of the admistration of justice because it saves time and makes the process quicker it also gives the chance for the defendant to plea guilty or not guilty. I would improve plea bargain by being fair with the people serving justice, no person should go thru what the two women went thru in the video. Both women had an attorney who they trusted the attorney only spoke to the judge and convinced both women to plea guilty. I believe attorneys should be fair with their clients they should be treated equally not by their income. The negative consequence of plea barging is many innocent people pea guilty fear of serving jail time and the cost of probation.
Plea bargaining raises concerns about the risk of innocent people being wrongfully convicted if they’re persuaded to accept a plea
On November 23, 2015, two men were brought before Circuit Judge Terry P. Lewis, and each received marginally different sentence. The first defendant had appeared at his arraignment, where he was read the charges brought against him. The charges included trespassing and criminal mischief, among several others that were dropped due to him agreeing to a guilty plea. Briefly before the judge walked into the courtroom, the defendant had a quick word with the public defender in order to understand what was about to occur and how to respond. Following the guilty plea, Judge Lewis made sure this decision wasn’t coerced by any means and clarified what rights the defendant would lose as a result.
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.
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