The Relationship Between Plea Bargaining And Criminal Code Structure - Research Paper Example

The Relationship Between Plea Bargaining And Criminal Code Structure Plea bargains have been part of the judicial system since time in memorial and have been used to settle many cases within the court room. A Plea bargain can be described as an agreement between the two parties in the court (that is, the defense and the prosecution) whereby the defense agrees to plead guilty in exchange for a particular concession made by the prosecutor (Ross 254). This concession usually consists of deals such as a reduced sentence, dropping of other charges or the switch to a less serious charge. The main point of plea bargains with regard to the defense is that the individual stands to benefit from pleading guilty rather than insisting on going to trial (Gazal-Ayal & Tor). This means that these kinds of situations only occur when the defense is not sure about whether they will win the case or the prosecution is sure of victory. Though Plea bargains have been used in numerous court cases for decades, the question still arises about whether they serve to help the justice system or whether they hinder it. An argument can thus be commenced on whether plea bargains should actually exist within the judicial system. In order to come to a valid conclusion on this topic, it is essential for one to consider both sides of the argument (Hickey 65). This is to ensure that all perspectives have been examined, the good and the bad before one comes to a conclusion from their findings. It can be argued that there are valid points for both sides of the arguments thus it is up to an individual to determine which one outweighs the other. Pro Plea Bargains There are several advantages that can be achieved from the use of plea bargains for both the defense and the prosecution and thus its popularity in the judicial system. The main reason for its use by the prosecution is in order for the attorney to save resources that would have been used on the case (Luna). This can be considered to be the main drive behind the offering of a plea bargain to the defense since it is usually only accepted when the prosecution is sure of winning the case because the amount of evidence against the defense, for example, and thus they would have no other reason for refusing to go through with a trial. Court trials can be exhausting at times, and even if the prosecution has enough evidence to make their case it would still require work and energy for them to put it all together (Garner 76). The case can also be drawn out and may take an indefinite time to clear up, and this is something that a prosecuting attorney would like to avoid. It should be noted that a prosecuting attorney usually has more than one case load at a time and thus the prospect of ticking one case of their list can be attractive to one who is dealing with multiple others at the current time (Gazal-Ayal & Tor) In other circumstances, a plea bargain is offered because the crime is simply not that serious thus the prosecutor does not see the necessity for going to trial over it if it can be settled quickly via a plea bargain (Luna). For instance, an individual who has been convicted of shop lifting a packet of gum would be viewed as a waste of the prosecutor’s time when there are more serious offenders to be tackled in their case load. In this instance, a plea bargain can be offered whereby the individual pleads guilty and in exchange the prosecutor suggests a lenient sentence such as probation instead of jail time allowing them to wrap up the case quickly (Ross 521). With regard to the defendant, a plea bargain is advantageous in the simple fact that they are offered a better deal than they would get if they were found guilty in a court. A person who may be aware that they cannot win their case may prefer to take the plea bargain in order to avoid feeling the full force of the law (Garner 85). A plea bargain also saves time for the defense as well as they no longer have to work on building a defense for their case, which by the time of accepting such a bargain, is more likely than not going to be difficult. The Plea bargain allows the defense to get a better deal without having to the hard work. It should be noted that this is only an advantage if the defense is truly guilty of the offense they have been charged with (Luna). Anti Plea Bargains Not everyone supports Plea bargains however and it should be noted that despite its advantages it also has a number of disadvantages as well thus following the adage there are two sides to every coin. Those who are against plea bargains site a number of reasons with the main one being that they are unfair in a number of ways. The first way in which plea bargains can be unfair is the fact that those offered the deals mean that they do not get the sentence that they probably deserve (Garner 98). For example, an individual who has been held on a murder charge may accept a plea bargain from the prosecution that will drop the charges to man slaughter, which holds a lesser sentence than the previous one. This will be unfair to certain individuals such as the family members of the victim who have relied on the judicial system to see justice done, but instead see the individual get charged with a lesser sentence than they deserved (Ross 452). The second way that plea bargains can be considered to be unfair is in circumstances such as when the defendant is actually innocent. It has been known to happen in some instances whereby an innocent individual who simply does not have a solid defense is coaxed into accepting a plea bargain by their attorney who may not be convinced that they can win the case thus they are ready to strike a deal with the prosecution (Luna). This cannot be considered to be an acceptable practice as everyone deserves their time in court to plead their case especially if they are innocent and plea bargains have been known to send a number of innocent people to jail. Another argument against Plea bargains is the fact that it seems to belittle the judicial system that has been put in place to provide justice to all. It allows both parties to circumvent or skip through the procedure and head straight out the door with the desired result. This can be said to belittle the judicial system as the normal procedures that allow both sides to argue their case and prove their innocence/guilt are ignored as the individual simply agrees to plead guilty to the charges that have been offered (Luna). In conclusion, it can be said that though Plea bargains have their disadvantages as well as benefits it is an essential part of the judicial system as it has proven to be a valid way of reducing the number of cases that are in the courts without which a serious backlog that would be difficult to deal with would occur (Garner Pg102). It is also a means of ensuring that justice is served as there is still a chance that an individual who may be guilty of a crime can escape punishment if their defense gets lucky for one reason or another, but a plea bargain ensures that they plead guilty and therefore they have no other choice than to accept a sentence. It can be argued that plea bargains are also offered to innocent people as well, and this is an issue that will have to be dealt with in order to ascertain that they are used in the proper way. References Erik Luna . Bargaining In the Shadow of the Law-The Relationship between Plea Bargaining and Criminal Code Structure: Victims, Apology, and Restorative Justice in Criminal, 2007. LexisNexis. Web. December 7, 2012 Garner, Bryan A. Black's Law Dictionary (7th ed. ed.), 2000. St. Paul, Minn.: West Group. Hickey, Thomas. Taking sides: Clashing views on criminal justice, 2002. Iowa: McGraw- Hill. James E. Ross. The Entrenched Position of Plea Bargaining in United States Legal Practice, 2006. The American Journal of Comparative Law (The American Journal of Comparative Law) 54. Oren Gazal-Ayal and Avishalom Tor. The Innocence Effect in Plea Bargaining, 2012. law.huji.ac.il HewBrewUConference. Web. December 7, 2012 Read More