The Plea Bargaining Process.

Plea bargaining is a commonly used prosecutorial method to dispose of a case without going to trial. A plea bargain or negotiated plea is an agreement between the defense and the prosecutor in which a defendant pleads guilty to a criminal charge and in exchange he expects to receive some form of consideration from the state. (Neubauer, 2002, p. 323) Most cases never make it to trial, more than 80 percent of criminal cases filed ended with the defendant entering a guilty plea. (Fagin, 2003, p. 61)

Plea bargaining became common sometime after the Civil War. The proliferation of cases, in the federal courts, brought on by prohibition was instrumental in the institutionalization of plea bargaining. (Neubauer, 2002, p. 323) It was not until the sixties that plea bargaining became a topic of controversy. This controversy seems to stem from the fact that the name suggests that the courts are bargaining with criminals.

Never Take a Plea dogtags, CopWatch table, Liberty...

Plea minutissima

English: Plea for silence Antwerpen.

But "much of what is characterized as 'plea bargaining' often involves the assessment and reassessment of facts...." (Nasheri, 1998, p. 24) After examining all the facts the conclusion might be that there is just not enough evidence to win at trial.

The police and victims are the most likely to object to the negotiated plea because they feel the defendant is not being punished severely enough. The police work hard to collect evidence and securing witnesses to help with the conviction and would like to see the offender prosecuted on the more serious charges. The victim, on the other hand, wants the same thing but for a somewhat different reason, which would be "for revenge or retribution or just the satisfaction that justice has prevailed." (Fagin, 2003, p. 309) In spite of the reasons against plea bargaining, it is still being used. Why is that?

There are...