Plea Bargain Advantages

Great Essays
A plea bargain is when the defendant in a criminal trial agrees to plead guilty in the exchange of a lesser sentence or to have other charges dropped. In theory, a plea bargain is a way to speed up the courtroom process. When applied correctly plea bargains are excellent tools within the criminal justice system. Incorrectly used judgment is cast down from those outside of the criminal justice system. Thus, it is imperative that all actors in the criminal justice and court systems use plea bargain correctly every time.
Plea Bargains have changed the appearance of the criminal justice and court system over time. Having a fluid process for plea bargains has become vital in the criminal justice system. The use of a plea bargain will impact
…show more content…
When a defendant agrees to plead guilty the time spent on what would have been their trial can now be devoted to another defendant. When a defendant takes advantage of a plea deal, they are often granted leniency on their punishment compared to what they might have received if the case went to trial. An advantage for the prosecutor is not gambling the case in court and risk the case being dismissed, or the defendant found not guilty. Another benefit that plea bargains offer is saving the victim from testifying in court. Psychologically, testifying in court could be very traumatizing to the …show more content…
People who have power in a situation can do what is right, or they can abuse their power. Another area of weakness that must be recognized is involuntary or coerced confessions. According to Garrett (2016) “A confession in an interrogation room, in contrast, involves extrajudicial admissions of guilt, which could be coerced or false, and, if found involuntary or to have been given in violation of constitutional requirements, may be suppressed from trial” (p. 4). Additionally, when a defendant agrees to plead guilty, they are waiving their rights to a trial and their rights for the evidence to be

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Plea-bargaining is an important process in the criminal justice system and are used to prevent lengthy trials. It is defined as “the process of negotiating a guilty plea involving either charge bargaining, where the prosecutor will offer to reduce the severity of the charges or the number of counts in exchange for a guilty plea, or sentence bargaining, where the prosecutor will agree to recommend leniency at the sentencing stage” (Hemmens, Brody, & Spohn, 2013). However, there are both pros and cons with plea-bargaining. One reason why plea-bargaining is an advantage to the court system is because it helps to relieve caseloads since the prosecutor’s workload decreases when a defendant takes the bargain. Also, when a defendant goes this route,…

    • 421 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Review: In 1975, Attorney General, Avrum Gross, declared a prohibition on plea-bargaining in Alaska. Michael Rubinstein and Teresa J. White from National Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice were assigned to study the impact of Gross’s decision. Their first task was looking at whether the policy had been carried out by the courts in Alaska, and second, was what the effects were on Alaska’s criminal justice system. This involved conducting 400 interviews of the surrounding judges in Alaska and collecting information from 3,586 case files. Overall their goal was to create a detailed description of the Alaska system during the “before and after” years.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    two feet, gain their self-esteem, and regain their relationship with their children and family members (Kaye, 2004). Another problem-solving courts with successful results include domestic violence courts. Domestic violence cases arose in the 1900s and it was evident that not enough was being done in order to protect the victims. Problem-solving courts allow for one judge to overview the case from the beginning to the end.…

    • 1424 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The use of coercion in plea bargains is constitutional according to the Supreme Court. Since plea-bargains for drug courts involve a greater need of coercion than normal court process due to the limited options available, it is considered a leveraging power to help drug users take advantage of the necessary treatment provided. However, the excessive use of coercion has led to many drug offenders entering treatment that are considered understaffed and over capacity (Parsons & Wei, 2015). The excessive use of coercion has also forced a drug courts to choice in behalf of the defendant, since the alternative is facing a jail sentence. Despite the concerns addressed, the courts when challenged of this claim find under the drug court setting that…

    • 1032 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brothel Boy Case Study

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages

    With the help of the villagers, Blair was able to research the life story about the brothel boy, along with the crime he committed. The Brothel Boy is far from a boy, as he is roughly twenty or so years old, who was born and raised in the Brothel. He was the son of a woman who worked in the brothel as a prostitute, but died shortly after the boy’s birth, and a man who was unknown. Therefore, the brothel keeper took him in to raise him. It was extremely apparent that the boy was uneducated and retarded, “The boy was obviously stupid.”…

    • 1251 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Evidence Interpretation

    • 1578 Words
    • 7 Pages

    With lacking evidence, detectives and prosecutors choose the most likely suspect, however; this is not always liable as from time to time, the individual in question is not guilty. There have been cases over the years where innocent defendants are coerced into confession during questioning; confession evidence can be quite compelling in front of the judge and jury (Braithwaite, 2012). Furthermore, individuals who are innocent and being prosecuted for a crime can be convinced that there is enough substantial evidence to prove their guilt, even when there is little to no substantial evidence in the case to start with. They are pushed to believe they would not make it through trial and receive an innocent verdict, often times causing blameless persons to accept a plea-bargain (Gilchrist, 2011). Unfortunately, there is substantial evidence proving that more guiltless individuals are imprisoned due to accepting a plea bargain than taking the case to trail and demanding their innocence (Gilchrist,…

    • 1578 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plea bargaining occurs when the prosecutor induces a criminal accused to confess guilt and to claim their right to trial in exchange for a more lenient criminal sanction than would be imposed if the accused were adjudicated guilty following trial. (Source 5) The prosecutor offers leniency either directly, in the form of a charge reduction, or indirectly, through the connivance of the judge, in the form of a recommendation for reduced sentence that the judge will follow. The sixth amendment is most often called upon in such matters. As such it…

    • 827 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    At times, cases that go to trial are lengthy and if a defendant has a private attorney this can be costly. Another incentive would be that plea bargains provide a faster resolution and cause less stress than if the case had gone to trial. Overall, it may seem that plea bargains offer various benefits to the criminal justice system as whole and to the defendant. Therefore, a person viewing these factors may state that the usage of plea bargains leaves all parties better off; however, how better off are the parties…

    • 1441 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (“15 Serious Disadvantage,” 2015) The plea bargaining process has had a huge impact in the criminal trials. In every state in the United States, courts resolve overcrowding and other issues by offering plea deals, which could be unfair to the victims of their crimes. This agreement makes the length important court trials shorter and easier to conduct. Plea bargaining doesn’t provide benefits to defendants who are…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plea bargaining brings to light the unreciprocated power that the prosecutor has due to the nature of the criminal justice system in America. Plea Deals Demonstrate Prosecutorial Power…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plea Bargaining Process

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What is the role of the prosecutor in the plea bargaining process? The role of the prosecutor in a Plea-bargaining process is to get the defendant to come to an agreement to where the defendant pleads guilty to some or many of the charges filed against them therefore bypassing a costly trial preceding. The prosecutor usually offers a reduced punishment if the defendants agrees to their terms. In some jurisdictions prosecutors and the defendant can work with the judges to help them determine what the sentence they will get if they accept the plea bargain. As prosecutor, what would you recommend in an attempt to resolve the case and why?…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plea bargaining has many benefits which is why it is so common in the United States criminal justice…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Abolishing the Plea Bargaining System 97 percent of federal cases and 94 percent of state cases end in plea bargains, with defendants pleading guilty in exchange for a lesser sentence (Goode, 2012). A plea bargain is an arrangement that happens between a prosecutor and the defendant in a criminal case. The prosecutor gives the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty to their charge or a lesser charge in order to avoid trial and the possibility of receiving the maximum sentence. While it would seem that plea bargains are equally beneficial to both prosecutors and defendants, plea bargains are overwhelmingly beneficial to the prosecutor and it is the defendant who ultimately can be harmed by plea bargaining. Plea bargaining should be banned because it bargaining circumvents the Constitutional rights for defendants, leads to shortcuts in the judicial system and can lead to increased convictions of the innocent.…

    • 494 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The criminal justice system is made of rules that are in place to not only protect the victim and the convicted, but also the prosecution and the defense attorneys. The system is governed by these guidelines from the time a police officer suspects a crime all the way to the day the offender is released from prison. The steps for an individual to be convicted of a crime must start with the arrest, and fallow the process in order to the pre-trial, trial, and appeals. There are different guidelines that apply to state and federal cases. To effectively understand the criminal justice process a person must start at the bottom and follow the progression of the charge.…

    • 1883 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Through the criminal justice system, when an individual has broken the law and committed a crime and is found guilty of that crime, they are held accountable for their criminal behavior and activities. Usually, through the use of a judicial decision, the offender is sentenced to undergo a certain penalty to insure the preventation of any and all future criminal activity. The shear purpose of sentencing is not only to punish the criminal and insure the deterrence of future criminal activity, but to keep the public safe. In the present day criminal justice system there are five different sentencing options, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Of them are Retribution, Incapacitation, Deterrence, Rehabilitation, and Restoration. "…

    • 1690 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays