Plea bargains are extraordinarily common in the American legal system, accounting for roughly 90% of all criminal cases. Many countries, however, do not allow plea bargains, considering them unethical and immoral. Below is a discussion about what plea bargains are, why we use them, and different types of plea bargains as well as what happens if both parties don't [Contractions are inappropriate in academic writing--write it out.] live up to the terms of a plea bargain (http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/plea-bargains-in-depth.html). [If this URL is in a citation, it should not appear here but rather on the references page.] Plea bargains are an agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and the defendant that usually involves the defendant pleading guilty in order to receive a lesser offense or sentence. Plea bargains are often referred to as really just establishing a "mutual acknowledgment" of the case's strengths and weaknesses, and don't [Write out contractions.] necessarily reflect a traditional sense of "justice". In theory, courts are happy to have the respective parties work out a solution by themselves, but it begs the question of who is best served by allowing plea bargains. A plea bargain is a contract between the defendant and the prosecutor. If either side fails to live up to its end of the agreement, the most likely remedy is to go to court to enforce the agreement. In particular, many plea bargains ask a defendant to do something in return for a lesser charge. If a defendant fails to perform his or her end of the bargain, then [Consider removing "then".] a prosecutor can revoke the offer. Charge bargaining is the process by which a defendant agrees to enter a guilty plea in exchange for a reduction in the severity of the charge or charges levied against him. [or her] This type of agreement is often sought by the defense when the initial charge carries a relatively heavy mandatory minimum sentence. For instance, a defendant accused of one count of first-degree murder might agree to a charge bargain which reduces the charge to aggravated manslaughter. This reduction in charges secures a lighter sentence for the defendant, and the guilty plea saves the judge’s and prosecution's time as well as the court's resources. Other less common types of plea agreements are likely to occur whenever the defense recognizes that it stands to benefit or suffer significantly based on the actions of the prosecution. For instance, the defense might offer a guilty plea to the prosecution in exchange for the suppression of information that, if released, would likely lead to further charges or harsher sentencing (http://www.ehow.com). [If this URL is in a citation, it should not appear here but rather on the references page.] Sentence bargaining is the process by which the defendant agrees to enter a guilty plea in exchange for the guarantee of a predetermined, favorable sentence. Sentence bargaining can take an implicit as well as an explicit form; generally, a guilty plea entered without an agreement in place is rewarded with leniency in sentencing due to ["because of"] the implied remorse and respect for the court associated with forfeiting the right to trial. A classic example of sentence bargaining occurs when a defendant, facing first-degree murder charges in a state with the death penalty, agrees to plead guilty to all charges in exchange for receiving life in prison instead of execution (http [Leave a space before the opening parenthesis] ://www.ehow.com). [If this URL is in a citation, it should not appear here but rather on the references page.] It helps the court and state to manage the case loads. It reduces the work load [Check spelling--"workload" is one word.] of the prosecutors, enabling them to prepare for [the] gravest case by leaving the effortless and petty offences to [be] settled through plea bargaining. It is also a factor in reforming the offender by accepting the responsibility for their actions, and by submitting them voluntarily before law, without having an expensive and time consuming [As an adjective, these two words are hyphenated.] trial. In [a] case wherein the prosecution is weak, if trial is concluded for want of proper witnesses or evidence, and the ultimate result may be an acquittal, the prosecution will have a chance to find the accused as guilty, by co-operating [Spell as one word without hyphen.] with the accused for a plea bargaining. [bargain] There are some other ["some" is redundant--"other" indicates an alternative, so "some," meaning unspecific, is not needed.] supporting factors of plea bargaining which [Use "that" for a restrictive phrase or place a comma before "which".] fall into three main categories. First, some jurists maintain that it is appropriate as a matter of sentencing policy to reward defendants who acknowledge their guilt. [What are the other two supporting factors?] Plea Bargaining is problematic for at least some reasons. First, the prosecution has the power to present [the] accused with unconscionable pressure. Though procedure pleas as [are] voluntary, there are [is] every chance of being practically coerced. The prosecution has the incentive to maximize the benefit of pleading guilty in the weakest cases. The more likely an acquittal at trial, the more attractive a guilty plea is to the prosecution. But [In academic writing, avoid starting a sentence with a conjunction.] in a borderline case that does go forward, the prosecution may very well threaten the most serious consequences to those accused, that [who] may very well be innocent. The defense lawyers who represent [the] accused do not have the resources to independently investigate every case. Plea bargaining undercuts the requirement of proof beyond [a] reasonable doubt and that [a] plea negotiation is substantially more likely than [a] trial to result in the conviction of [the] innocent. Plea bargaining results in unjust sentencing. This practice turns the accused’s fate on a single tactical decision which [Use "that" for a restrictive phrase or place a comma before "which".] they say is irrelevant to desert, [What do you mean by “desert” here?] deterrence, or any other proper objective of criminal proceedings.

References http://www.ehow.com/list_6729896_types-plea-agreements.html http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/plea-bargains-in-depth.html Erik: You did some fairly good research and covered the assigned topics in a fair manner. You cited your references in support of some points you made. Please check the APA guidelines on using what appears to be URLs and citing them in your paper. Please watch your sentence construction, grammar, punctuation and spelling much closer. Errors were noted in those areas in your paper. Also, avoid writing contractions when writing academically, and avoid starting a sentence with a conjunction. Bobby Sheppard bsheppard1@email.phoenix.edu University of Phoenix Faculty