Effective and Ineffective Initiatives of Plea Bargaining

Effective and Ineffective Initiatives Associated with Plea Bargaining

Plea bargaining is recognized as a major building block of the criminal justice system and is used in "more than 90% of criminal convictions" (US Legal, 2010, para. 1.) In other words, the amount of criminal cases that go to trial is only a whopping 10%. Plea bargaining has many effective initiatives and ineffective initiatives and is largely debated by the public; however, the debate is only in its infancy. "Those opposed to the use of plea bargaining assert that it is coercive in its inducement of guilty pleas, that it encourages the unequal exercise of prosecutorial discretion, and that it complicates sentencing as well as the job of correctional authorities" (Siegel & Senna, 2005, p. 346.)

In addition, many argue that plea bargaining is unconstitutional, results in charges dropped or reduced altogether against a defendant in exchange for a guilty plea, and encourages defendants to waive his or her constitutional right to a jury trial. Plea bargaining "convinces the general public that plea bargaining allows the defendant to beat the system and further tarnishes the criminal process" (Siegel & Senna, 2005, p. 346.) Another disadvantage is innocent people sometimes plead guilty because of fear of the harsher sentence they may receive if they go to trial, so they take the plea bargain (even if they are innocent) instead of trying to prove their innocence in a trial. This results in a conviction of an innocent person. Plea bargaining is not true justice.

Despite the many ineffective initiatives that exist with plea bargaining, many benefits or effective initiatives do exist. Plea bargaining decreases the amount of caseloads for prosecutors, which in turn prevents a trial that could become costly, and allows prosecutors and resources to spend more time on more serious caseloads. Plea bargaining is simply a way to save money for the various levels of government, prevent jails and prisons from becoming overcrowded, and minimize caseloads for prosecutors. Judges also benefit from plea bargaining as it eases the need to schedule trials on an already congested docket. Last, plea bargaining allows the criminal justice system to run more smoothly, allows the judge to move on the next case more quickly, and allows prisons and jails to be less congested.

References

Siegel, L. J., & Senna, J. J. (2005). Introduction to Criminal Justice (Tenth ed.). Belmont, California: Thomson Wadsworth.

US Legal. (2010). Plea Bargaining Pros and Cons. Retrieved December 3, 2011, from US Legal Web site: http://criminallaw.uslegal.com/plea-bargaining/pros-and-cons/