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Plea Bargaining In The Criminal Justice System

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Plea Bargaining in the Criminal Justice System Plea bargaining is a necessary component in the American Criminal Justice system. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 90% of criminal cases are resolved through plea bargaining (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2005; Flanagan and Maguire, 1990),and it has shown to be an effective way for courts to try and manage their caseloads. However, even though it is such a necessity to the system, many are concerned that the process is unethical and unfair to the defendants involved.
Positive Aspects of Plea Bargaining The main reason plea bargaining is such a huge part of the criminal justice system is that there simply aren’t enough resources to take every criminal to trial every time. …show more content…
This works extremely well when the defendant is in fact guilty, and the issue can be quickly resolved without wasting the time or money to go to trial just to lose. If you are guilty and you know there is enough evidence against you to convict, taking a plea is the best choice you could make. You will get a reduced sentence and the prosecutor can move on to his next case. In the majority of the pleas accepted, this system works as it should, however it begins to fail when those who are innocent are urged to take a plea.
Negative Aspects of Plea Bargaining The main issue concerning plea bargaining is whether or not it is fair to the defendant. The practice is based on the concept of a just system where no one is wrongly accused or convicted, and in theory works fantastically. However, the reality of the Criminal Justice system is that it is too large and overworked to run the same way that it can from a theoretical point of view. This leads to many parts of the system being forced to take shortcuts, such as plea bargaining, that can lead to defendants serving out a sentence for a crime they did not commit.
Accepting A Plea When You Are …show more content…
The two women featured were wrongly accused and urged to take a plea. Their court appointed lawyer was so overworked that, when interviewed, he did not remember them, and didn’t even have records showing that he had defended them. Because the key witness eventually proved to be unreliable, everyone who chose to forgo taking a plea was declared innocent and released from prison. The problem with taking a plea in this type of situation is that once you plead guilty, it is very difficult to retract. Because these women had chosen to plead guilty, they were unable to be released when everyone else was, and had to serve out the rest of their

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