What are the advantages of plea bargaining?

Answer 1

Plea bargaining is encouraged because it does away with what could be a long and lengthy trial. It is good for the prosecutor because it takes away the risk of the person getting off, it is good for the defendant because he or she often gets charged with a lesser crime in exchange for taking the deal.

Answer 2

Plea bargaining is important to the legal system because it allows cases to be closed without the need for a full trial in every instance. This saves time and resources for the legal system. Whether it produces justice is a matter of disagreement.

Answer 3

Plea bargaining is a way to convict people who otherwise would not have been convicted and/or to minimize the risk of those of not convicting those who are likely to be convicted. Money is saved by not going to trial too, but that is only a major factor for the accused, the prosecution has nearly unlimited resources to pursue convictions.

It's is not important to the Justice system itself but it is important to the people that administer our justice system because it helps to greatly increase conviction rates which helps expand their power base and justify their positions.

Here are some example scenarios:

Scenario A:

Person is arrested and held in jail for something that is not a crime (but the person doesn't know that probably) or for something they did not do. In this scenario the person cannot make bail.

After 30 days of sitting in a jail the prosectution will offer you a deal: Plead guilty and we'll give you probation and let you go home today other wise you'll get xx months in jail (or xx years in prison) when we convict you, and we will (keep in mind they don't get to see a lawyer until a few minutes before this deal is offered and then it's often for less than a minute.. If the person agrees, the prosecution get a conviction (they are judged by their conviction rates), the government collects lots of money from you, the court itself also gets to collect lots of money from you, sometimes the police that arrested you get paid and finally the jail also gets paid for every day you are there by the state. PLUS the prosecution knows that most people don't successfully complete probation and will end up in front of them again.

Scenario B:

The person does make bail. The prosecutors still has several advantages over you:

• They have unlimited resources to spend on lawyers
• They have a police department to investigate and gather evidence against you
• They have a threat of harm over you (prison time)

Sometimes they have to offer a sweeter deal, but they still will try to get you to convict yourself because often they don't have a case and just can't win in a trial.

Scenario C:

You're guilty and you know it. They offer you xx time in jail or on probation or in prison. They minimize the risks of loosing a trial if you accept their offer. It's not about money for them. This is NOT their money they are spending, they just want convictions.

Answer 4

Defendant gets a shorter sentence for a reduced criminal charge.

Prosecutor gets a guilty conviction - and doesn't clog the court calender with a needless trial - which saves the state money.

Answer 5

Plea bargaining is beneficial to both in that there would be no trial. The prosecutor would not have to prove the guilt of the defendant, and as a reward, the defendant faces less punishment than if he were convicted by a jury.

Answer 6

"Plea bargaining" is a corrupt and pernicious distortion of the criminal justice system.

In a plea bargain, the accused will plead guilty to the criminal accusations, generally in exchange for a reduced sentence or will plead guilty to lesser crimes than originally stated.

Because the prosecutor has ALL of the power in this matter, the prosecutor will often charge the defendant with multiple crimes or more serious crimes, especially if the accused refuses the bargain. This "Throw the book at him" mentality (meaning, charge him with every crime in the law books) distorts the justice system. Since the prosecutor will suffer no practical consequences at all if he lies or exaggerates, the defendant is practically forced to plead guilty - especially if he can't afford a good lawyer.

So many people are accused of crimes every day that there is no way for the court system to handle all the trials. So there's plenty of incentive for the prosecutor to offer deals, even to people that he cannot prove are guilty. And since police and lawyers are all human, they DO often make mistakes.

Answer 7

Plea bargaining is an important part of a criminal case because it saves the state the cost of a trial. The accused may also get a lesser sentence.