Plea Bargaining In Criminal Justice

Plea bargaining is one of the most important factors of our criminal justice system. About 95 percent of criminal cases result in a plea deal. What is a plea bargain one may ask? A plea bargain is a type of legal contract between the defendant and the prosecuting attorney of the defendant’s case. It provides a leniency in a sentence or lesser chargers for the defendant if he pleads guilty to his case. At what phase of the criminal justice system does plea bargaining begin and end? Plea bargaining occurs at any stage of the criminal justice system. From the moment you get arrested until right before the verdict of the case. In this paper, you will learn how the role of plea bargaining is present in enforcement, adjudication, and our correctional system.

The criminal justice system involves three parts: enforcement, adjudication, and the correctional system. Plea bargaining exists in every phase of the criminal justice system. Enforcement includes being arrested and in jail temporarily until the disposition of their case. Adjudication includes the trial process and a conviction of the case. The correctional system involves jail, prison, probation, etc. When a defendant pleads guilty, the defendant waive all their trial rights. These rights …show more content…
A prior arrest without adjudication cannot be used against the defendant in court let alone in plea bargaining. From the perspective of law enforcement, if you are guilty, you will take plea bargain. They do not realize that the innocent plead guilty too because of their tactics to get suspects to confess. Why would someone who is truly innocent plead guilty to a crime they did not commit? Plea bargaining play a role in enforcement when the defendant has either a prior arrest history or none previously at all. Every situation and circumstance is