Arguments Against Plea Bargaining
Whether or not it is possible to entirely eliminate plea bargaining in all its forms and varieties, I am not persuaded that it is desirable to do so. But I am no friend of plea bargaining in the unrestrained forms of it that are evident in the United States. In a nutshell, the normative position I shall advance is this: individuals charged with crimes who are willing to confess or plead guilty should be granted modest and fixed sentence discounts in exchange for doing so. Charge bargaining, and that which often accompanies and enables it, strategic overcharging, should be strongly discouraged. Trial penalties, that is, additional increments of punishment assigned to individuals who exercise their right to trial, should be prohibited. However,
my defendant Abby is content with the plea bargaining deal and promise to uphold her vow to complete her 2 year probation without any incidents. A plea bargain is an agreement between a defendant and a prosecutor, in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest in exchange for an agreement by the prosecutor to drop one or more charges, reduce a charge to a less serious offense, or recommend to the judge a specific sentence acceptable to the defense. Today was a fairly good day! (Doherty, 2009)
my defendant Abby is content with the plea bargaining deal and promise to uphold her vow to complete her 2 year probation without any incidents. A plea bargain is an agreement between a defendant and a prosecutor, in which the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest in exchange for an agreement by the prosecutor to drop one or more charges, reduce a charge to a less serious offense, or recommend to the judge a specific sentence acceptable to the defense. Today was a fairly good day! (Doherty, 2009)