Plea Bargaining

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Plea Bargaining
A plea bargain is an agreement between a prosecutor and defendant for the defendant to plead guilty to charges against them in exchange for a reduced sentence or other compromises (Lombardo 1). It has both positive and negative aspects.
One positive aspect of plea bargaining is that it preserves resources. The cost of prosecuting and defending law offenders can be high to both the court and the defendant. The number of police officers involved, judges and the cost of hiring advocates all adds to the cost. Therefore, by plea bargaining, costs are reduced, and resources are preserved. Secondly, plea bargaining speeds up the process of trials. Being charged with a crime involves lengthy investigations and several court appearances. By pleading guilty, one avoids all the stressful trials and gets sentenced quickly. Additionally, plea bargaining reduces the uncertainty that a lawsuit might bring (Lombardo 1). If one is found guilty, they will serve a longer sentence than when they plead guilty.
One negative aspect of plea bargaining is that it might charge innocent people guilty. An innocent person can plead guilty for fear of a long sentence, and this eliminates the possibility of been found not guilty. Therefore, this can be depressing if one is innocent because they will get punished for a crime they did not commit or for more extended periods than they would have otherwise received (Durocher 1). Similarly, pleading guilty also guarantees one a criminal record even if they were innocent.

Secondly, it provides soft justice for the guilty. One might plead guilty of a less severe crime than the one they committed leading to a reduced sentence than the one they deserve. The leniency might be unfair to the victims.
I think that plea bargaining is not fair especially when the accused pleads guilty for a less severe crime than that which they committed. The leniency is also not fair to victims who might feel that justice was not served. The court has government funding behind it. Therefore, all offenders should be put to trial by a jury and sentenced according to their crimes no matter how lengthy, or costly the process is.
Works Cited
Durocher, Christopher. “The Rise of Plea Bargains and Fall of The Right to Trial | ACS.” American Constitution Society, 2018, https://www.acslaw.org/acsblog/the-rise-of-plea-bargains-and-fall-of-the-right-to-trial/. Accessed 15 Dec 2018.
Lombardo, Crystal. “11 Advantages and Disadvantages of Plea Bargaining | Vittana.Org”. Vittana.Org, https://vittana.org/11-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-plea-bargaining. Accessed 15 Dec 2018.