Plea Bargaining Paper Barry Jones
CJA/224
May 21, 2014
John Chancler

Plea Bargaining Paper Plea bargaining is essential in our courts for the simple reason that it allows for fewer cases going to trial. Approximately 90-95 of all cases are plea bargained. If not for plea bargaining our courts would always be tied up and the time a case could go to trial would take a very long time. Plea bargaining is just one part of our lengthy legal process, but it helps our courts out. Plea Bargaining A plea bargain is a negotiated agreement between a criminal defendant and a prosecutor in which the defendant agrees “guilty” or “no contest” to some crimes, along with possible conditions, such as attending Alcohol Anomalous classes in return for a reduction in the severity of the chargers, dismissal of some of the chargers, or some other type of benefit to the defendant (“Plea Bargaining Law and Legal Definitions”, 2015). The defendant must hold their end of the deal that was agreed upon such as pleading guilty on a specific date, and cooperating in the investigation of another offence or testifying against a co-defendant or the plea bargain may be revoked.
Charge Bargaining and Sentence Bargaining Charge bargaining is when the prosecutor negotiates with the defendant in the terms of the chargers that could be filed against the defendant. Both parties must agree to the terms of the Bargaining and the defendant must hold his part of the bargaining. Sentence bargaining is when the defendant agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a less serious sentence. An advantage for a plea bargain is that less work is required for the defense and they are normally paid the same amount for their services. The advantage for the prosecutor is that they get a conviction and they can alter the sentence any way that they see fit. The courts like plea bargaining because it moves the courts on to more cases that can be heard. It helps our justice system in these ways. Without this our courts would always be tied up and it would really hurt our court system. Plea bargains have been used in our country for a few hundred years. Some experts argue that our nation has become too soft in allowing plea bargains in exchange for a guilty outcome. Plea bargains have been used more frequently in recent years, but some have said that it has a positive impact on the defendant and has freed up our jails of less violent criminals. This impact also cost the taxpayer less over time and saves a lot of money being spent on the court and prison systems (Heumann, 1997). A disadvantage is that it the judge and the prosecutor may have a deal worked out, but the courts have the final say in the matter and they must agree to the plea bargain. If the case is rejected by the courts, then the case will need to be sent to trial. Another disadvantage is that when the defendant signs the plea bargain and they plead guilty they cannot go back and appeal at a later date. There is little doubt that plea bargaining has a positive impact on our court systems. It also is usually a positive outcome for the defendant in most cases. Without plea bargaining our prisons would be over flowing and there would be a need to have more prisons in our country. There are many cases involving drug possession that end up being plea bargained. This again allows for less violent criminal being held in our prison system.

References
Heumann, M. (1997). Plea Bargaining. Boston, MA: G.K. Hall.
Plea Bargain Law and Legal Definition. (2015). USLegal.com. Retrieved from http://definitions.uslegal.com/p/plea-bargaining/