Plea bargaining is a very familiar process in our criminal justice system. Usually, the defense is allowed to bargain with a prosecutor to have a defendant plead guilty to a criminal accusation with the hope of getting a lighter punishment. The problem with this immediate approach is that dangerous offenders are pleading guilty to small misbehavior charges and they are keeping a cleaner record than they should have and getting reduced sentence. Plea bargaining is needed on the other hand defendants tried on felony charges should not be able to appeal down to small misbehavior charges.
The Plea Bargaining gives advantages to both the defendants and the courts system in general. Some advantages in terms of a defendant in a case are that a defendant may not have to pay for a fine or may get reduction in a fine. Pleading guilty could also remove jail time in some cases or a defendant could end up with reduction in jail time. Additional charges are usually very likely to be dropped or dismissed in most cases. It avoids publicity and may result in fewer convictions on a defendant’s criminal record. Plea bargaining could also save a defendant a bunch of money since he’s not going to pay lawyers as much as going through trial and might have a better chance of getting a job which brings income and defendants might not lose their jobs. In terms of the court system, dismissing a case before trial could save more money and time and move on to other cases.
Some disadvantages of plea bargaining is when a prosecutor and a judge agree on a plea bargain the courts still have the final say and if for some reason the courts disagree on this plea bargaining the case has to go through trial. Another disadvantage is that defendants cannot appeal a case once they sign a plea bargaining agreement. An innocent person might sign plea bargain in fear of getting worse punishment. A routine offender might come back to the public and commit the same crime or even worse crime.
Work Cited
Lynch, Timothy. "The Case against Plea Bargaining."Cato Institute (2003): 25-27. Web. 29 Mar 2011. .
Cited: Lynch, Timothy. "The Case against Plea Bargaining."Cato Institute (2003): 25-27. Web. 29 Mar 2011. .
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