Persuasive Essay On Plea Bargains

Plea Bargains

For decades, we have been made to believe that criminals are people who have done harm to our society, violating the laws of the land, and don 't deserve a second chance. They should be locked away, and the keys should throw away. Unfortunately, today, our world is full of crimes and our system is getting overcrowded with criminals. However, with recent laws like the plea bargain proofs that there is hope and a way out to every situation. A plea bargain can be defined as negotiations during a criminal trial between the prosecutor and the defendant which result in a more lenient sentence than would have been recommended with the original charge (Farlex). Some would say that the use, or abuse, of the plea bargain, allows criminals

When the War on Drugs began, plea bargains were declared constitutional and had to be regularly used to deal with the sudden stress on the legal system (Berger). The courts, prosecutors, and public defenders couldn 't handle the sheer amount of cases; they now had to deal with by allowing them to go to trial. Once plea bargains were made constitutional, it began to impact the very foundations of the Justice System and those who work on it in several ways. Frankly, it 's my belief that career criminals or those who have committed serious offenses should not be allowed to make an appeal. Crimes like murder, theft of large amounts of money or assault cases should not be allowed to go to a plea bargain. On the other hand, first-time offenders, petty criminals and individuals who are in cases with circumstantial evidence should be allowed to plea. Plea bargaining, on the whole, greatly benefits the prosecutor and the Justice System. Also, it allows for the massive backlog of cases to be alleviated through other means and saves the government a lot of time, stress and taxpayer funds that can be used for more useful and relevant matters (Langden). Plea bargaining also greatly benefits the guilty. It allows for them to reduce the sentences and change what type of charge is left on their record. What a person ultimately found guilty of will have repercussions and having a lesser charge on their records can make a huge difference in their lives (Bernman). The difference between a misdemeanor and felony for some people is the difference between employed and