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,