The Role Of Plea Bargains In Criminal Justice

Professionals in the criminal justice field have the discretion to make many ethical choices throughout their careers. These choices are so significant that their outcomes can determine the futures of those involved. An ethical choice that prosecutors have to make daily, revolves around plea bargaining. Plea bargains are negotiations for contracts between the prosecution and the defense in an attempt to get them to plead guilty ("Plea Bargain.”). The prosecutor offers to reduce the severity or the length of the defendant’s punishment in exchange for the defense’s agreement to plead guilty ("Plea Bargain."). Sometimes plea deals even require the defendant to testify against someone else, so that they can be convicted of a crime ("Plea Bargain.").
Plea bargains are favorable in Herbert Packer’s crime control model of the criminal justice system, which resembles an assembly line (Roach 676-677). The least amount of time possible is spent on each of the accused in order to keep the constant stream of offenders flowing through the system. Instead of starting with a presumption of innocence, in a way there is a presumption of guilt that the offender has to address before reaching the position of a presumption of innocence. Of course it is impractical to just do away with plea bargaining and have a jury trial for every single person accused of a crime; there simply isn’t enough labor force and resources to support such an initiative (Devers 3). However, with 90 to 95 percent of people pleading guilty, prosecutors should stop using plea deals as a go to for every case that is brought to them (Devers 1). A starting point would be, at the very least, trying to restrict plea deals to defendants that can provide information or testimony that would lead to the conviction of a criminal. Or plea deals can be restricted with guidelines and only used for specific crimes (Devers 4). Another option would be to take a portion of discretionary power away from the prosecution. Some research has shown that prosecutors will push for harsher punishment if the defendant did not accept their plea deal (Devers 2). This works as a scare tactic and against anyone that is accused of a crime be they guilty or innocent. It is ridiculous that a defendant would be penalized for exercising their constitutional rights, simply because the prosecution wants them to accept the established presumption of guilt. It is possible that involving the judge and defense attorney or even a separate entity into the process would make it more of an equitable system (Devers 4). Taking any one of these measures would move