The Pros And Cons Of Plea Bargaining

Plea-bargaining has been practiced in the criminal justice system for over 300 years. Controversial cases have brought plea bargains to the forefront and have created bias towards this practice. However, if plea bargains were not implemented, a chaotic and expensive justice system would be created. With such cases bringing a negative view to plea-bargaining, this research paper aims to show the positives and negatives of plea-bargaining. Critics of plea-bargaining believe that sentences demonstrate to be more lenient to the defendants, contributes to the issue of mass incarceration, and how the Crown persuades defendants into pleading guilty. Nevertheless, supporters of plea bargains find that plea deals are beginning to including the victims
A large issue is based around how offenders who commit horrible crimes do not end up being punished the way the victims and victim’s families feel they should be. In one of the most controversial Canadian cases, Karla Homolka made a plea deal, where she was sentenced to twelve years after assisting in the killings of three young girls. This case was difficult for the public to understand. In the beginning they viewed Homolka as a woman who had been beaten by her husband. However, after more information came out about the case, it became apparent that Homolka had more involvement in the murders than originally thought. Kilty and Frigon (2007) found that, “once the videotapes of the sexual assaults were found, acceptance of Homolka’s discourse of forced participation seemed to dissipate, and the re-construction of Homolka as dangerous and narcissistic ensued” (p.45). Outrage from the public followed, as it was described that Homolka was smiling and enjoying herself in the videos of the sexual assaults against the women. Conversely, court officials were found as saying that, “if the videotapes had been available at the time, Karla Homolka would have found herself in the prisoner’s box beside Paul Bernardo” (Kilty and Frigon, 2007, p. 55). Unfortunately these positions made no difference as the plea deal was already decided. This case creates bias towards plea-bargaining because it shows how unfair the system can be. Serial murder is described as a person who commits three or more killings over a period of time. Such as Homolka, though she received a lenient sentence compared to her counterpart, Paul Bernardo. Leniency, as shown in the Homolka case makes society uncomfortable with plea bargains because the feeling is that a person who commits a crime should do the appropriate sentence. However, Smith (1986) found