"By looking at the motivations of the three critical parties to any plea bargain-the prosecutor, defense attorney/defendant, and the judge-Plea Bargaining Made Real explains why in the words of former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, "criminal justice today is for the most part a system of pleas, not a system of trials." By looking at the impact these motivations play in the conduct and decisions of these parties, the book offers a clearer and more realistic understanding of the process. Through comparing plea-bargaining court decisions with the actual ways in which guilty pleas come about, the book illustrates not just the dishonesty of the judicial approach to issues arising from plea bargaining, but also the damage that such dishonesty causes. The book discusses other important and controversial aspects of plea bargaining such as types of guilty pleas, the impact of systemic racism in plea bargaining and the applicability of contract law principles to plea agreements. The negotiation of a disposition in a criminal case is a most human process. This book examines the law of plea bargaining without ever losing sight of this critical perspective. It offers suggestions for how prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and the criminal justice system itself can make the plea bargaining system fairer and more transparent"--

Simulated case of a burglary suspect dramatizes the procedures, operations, and values of a criminal justice system whose primary, very often most effective techniques is plea bargaining. Bibliography.

A blistering critique of America’s assembly-line approach to criminal justice and the shameful practice at its core: the plea bargain Most Americans believe that the jury trial is the backbone of our criminal justice system. But in fact, the vast majority of cases never make it to trial: almost all criminal convictions are the result of a plea bargain, a deal made entirely out of the public eye. Law professor and civil rights lawyer Dan Canon argues that plea bargaining may swiftly dispose of cases, but it also fuels an unjust system. This practice produces a massive underclass of people who are restricted from voting, working, and otherwise participating in society. And while innocent people plead guilty to crimes they did not commit in exchange for lesser sentences, the truly guilty can get away with murder. With heart-wrenching stories, fierce urgency, and an insider’s perspective, Pleading Out exposes the ugly truth about what’s wrong with America’s criminal justice system today—and offers a prescription for meaningful change.

2013 Christy Award finalist! Plea bargains may grease the rails of justice, but for Jamie Brock, prosecuting criminals is not about cutting deals. In her three years as assistant DA, she’s never plea-bargained a case and vows she never will. But when a powerful defense attorney is indicted for murder and devises a way to bring the entire justice system to a screeching halt, Jamie finds herself at a crossroads. One by one, prisoners begin rejecting deals. Prosecutors are overwhelmed, and felons start walking free on technicalities. To break the logjam and convict her nemesis, Jamie must violate every principle that has guided her young career. But she has little choice. To convict the devil, sometimes you have to cut a deal with one of his demons.

Though originally an interloper in a system of justice mediated by courtroom battles, plea bargaining now dominates American criminal justice. This book traces the evolution of plea bargaining from its beginnings in the early nineteenth century to its present pervasive role. Through the first three quarters of the nineteenth century, judges showed far less enthusiasm for plea bargaining than did prosecutors. After all, plea bargaining did not assure judges “victory”; judges did not suffer under the workload that prosecutors faced; and judges had principled objections to dickering for justice and to sharing sentencing authority with prosecutors. The revolution in tort law, however, brought on a flood of complex civil cases, which persuaded judges of the wisdom of efficient settlement of criminal cases. Having secured the patronage of both prosecutors and judges, plea bargaining quickly grew to be the dominant institution of American criminal procedure. Indeed, it is difficult to name a single innovation in criminal procedure during the last 150 years that has been incompatible with plea bargaining’s progress and survived.