The Pros And Cons Of The Plea Bargaining Process

During the plea bargaining process the defendant takes a deal of a specific punishment without going to trial for the accused crime, this process unclutters the legal system by reducing the number of cases that go to trial and the plea bargain is a method of determining guilt accepted by the Supreme Court. During this process the defendant does not forfeit their constitutional protection guaranteed by law. Some of the guaranteed rights that are still in effect to a defendant that enters a plea bargain agreement are; the right to petition the government for the redress of a grievance, if the defendant enters into a plea bargain and the criminal justice system does not follow the elements of the agreement than the defendant has the right to bring the grievance to the eyes of the court. The defendants during the plea bargain process still are afforded the protections guaranteed by the Fourth amendment to include the right to be protected by illegal search and seizure at the hand of the criminal justice system, probable cause and search the obtaining of legal search warrants would still apply. The Fifth Amendment protects the defendant in a plea bargain case by protecting them against double jeopardy. A suspect accepting a plea bargain retains the right guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the right to have representation by a competent defense and to be fully and truthfully informed of the nature and cause of the accusation so they can make an educated decision on whether to enter into a plea bargain in the first place.

If a defendant pleads guilty certain constitutional rights are waived by the defendant among those are the right to a trial by a jury of the suspects peers and the right to plead not guilty. The right to a speedy

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FIFTH AMENDMENT GUARANTEE AGAINST DOUBLE JEOPARDY*. The William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, 14(1), 193-242. (2005) Retrieved from