What is behind the rampant growth of plea bargains?
Plea bargaining has surged because there are more crimes and there are more petty offenses which now are criminalized (offenses such as failing to pay a bus fare, being an unlicensed vendor, petty burglary, shoplifting, etc.). Since going to trial is more costly and time consuming, plea bargains are a practical solution for the criminal justice system. And, as noted above, a guilty plea reduces uncertainty as to the outcome of a trial and is viewed as offering the accused a freedom of choice. In addition, some legal experts maintain that the growth of plea bargaining is directly connected to the failures of the trial system. They say that today’s jury trial has been captured by the lawyers and has become an “adversary jury trial” with an elaborate body of law — law of evidence and certain other rules — which is designed to control the legal combat. As law professor John Langbein tells FRONTLINE, “The ability of the lawyers in the O.J. case … to spin out the case forever and ever, the
