Arguments Against Plea Bargaining Arguments

Criminal prosecutions in the United States do not tend to end with jury trials, but with plea bargains instead. These plea bargains occur between the defendant and prosecutors for the defendant to plead guilty to charges filed against them. (Cornell University Law School) If the defendant agrees, the prosecutor tends to reduce the severity of the punishment, or lessen the sentence of the charge. However, it is natural for a prosecutor and defendant to enlist the help of the judge in the plea bargain. In most cases, limited power is given to the judge during the time of the bargain. (Cornell University Law School)
Today, plea bargaining is a controversial topic in the criminal justice system. In some cases, bystanders believe bargaining is …show more content…
Arguments against plea bargaining include the suspect getting off too easy, the family or victim not getting closure, innocent people take plea bargains, and it makes the criminal justice system seem too lenient. (Cook, 2011) Included in the argument is the overflow of the prisons resulting from plea bargaining. Those for the option of plea bargaining tend to suggest bargaining it keeps innocent people from spending life in prison, it helps cases go through the court system faster and at times, it provides a guilty plea, which the police may not have been able to get. (Cook, 2011) This argument is becoming controversial at an exceeding rate, especially to those involved with plea bargaining. It is considered by eliminating plea bargaining, there would be an excess of room in the …show more content…
The long-lasting effects caused by plea bargaining are things gone unnoticed and don’t get talked about. On one side, there is the possibility that plea bargaining is putting away a guilty man, but at the same time, there is the possibility of the same man being innocent. It can be believed that plea bargaining is wrong and should not be used in the criminal justice system. However, most prosecuting lawyers and supporters of plea bargaining observe it as completing the trial without a trial. Most cases have a lack of evidence, but that goes unnoticed in many of the plea-bargaining cases. Plea bargaining is prevalent today and always will be. It is up to society to change the idea of plea bargaining and what it stands for. Changes that could be made to help improve the concept of plea bargaining is setting limitations, putting a number as max capacity for prisons, not offering bargains to every suspect, and making prosecutors justify their actions when it comes to handing out plea