The Plea
Frontline’s feature The Plea focuses on the incredibly popular and sometimes overlooked aspect of court, the plea bargain. Author Douglas Guidorizzi quotes Black’s Law Dictionary when providing the best definition of a plea bargain but a summary of that definition will suffice. The plea bargain, in short, is an agreement made between the defense and the prosecutor in a criminal case (if approved by the court) where the defendant usually pleads guilty to a lesser offense or to only some of the counts against them in return for a lighter sentence. The reasons behind why a defendant would take a plea are numerus but the most common reason is the possible outcome they would receive if their case went to trial and the defendant was found guilty. Why would a …show more content…
Benefits for the defendant are the most important because they could potentially keep someone from becoming labeled a federal criminal or even keep someone out of jail. Society as a whole benefits in other interesting ways that book did not highlight such as a lower number of incarcerations, smaller caseloads that allow the system to function in a more timely manner, and in some cases (such as a very public case) society can quickly gain closure. Consequences the state faces in crafting plea bargains include the prosecutor having to determine the defendant’s culpability or whether the prosecutor could win the case if the defendant turns down the plea. Additionally, the state could face backlash from the public for “allowing the criminal to get away” if the plea bargain is offered to a case in the public’s view. Consequences the defendant faces are even more gregarious with the involvement of “trial penalty” or the threatening to seek the most severe penalty if the defendant exercises their right to trial. Society as a whole faces the moral consequence that plea bargains sometimes place the innocent behind bars in fear of what they would lose if they did not plead guilty and were assigned a
Frontline’s feature The Plea focuses on the incredibly popular and sometimes overlooked aspect of court, the plea bargain. Author Douglas Guidorizzi quotes Black’s Law Dictionary when providing the best definition of a plea bargain but a summary of that definition will suffice. The plea bargain, in short, is an agreement made between the defense and the prosecutor in a criminal case (if approved by the court) where the defendant usually pleads guilty to a lesser offense or to only some of the counts against them in return for a lighter sentence. The reasons behind why a defendant would take a plea are numerus but the most common reason is the possible outcome they would receive if their case went to trial and the defendant was found guilty. Why would a …show more content…
Benefits for the defendant are the most important because they could potentially keep someone from becoming labeled a federal criminal or even keep someone out of jail. Society as a whole benefits in other interesting ways that book did not highlight such as a lower number of incarcerations, smaller caseloads that allow the system to function in a more timely manner, and in some cases (such as a very public case) society can quickly gain closure. Consequences the state faces in crafting plea bargains include the prosecutor having to determine the defendant’s culpability or whether the prosecutor could win the case if the defendant turns down the plea. Additionally, the state could face backlash from the public for “allowing the criminal to get away” if the plea bargain is offered to a case in the public’s view. Consequences the defendant faces are even more gregarious with the involvement of “trial penalty” or the threatening to seek the most severe penalty if the defendant exercises their right to trial. Society as a whole faces the moral consequence that plea bargains sometimes place the innocent behind bars in fear of what they would lose if they did not plead guilty and were assigned a