Plea bargaining has become a common feature in the American criminal justice system. With a steady 97% of cases resolved with a guilty plea, there has always been an outcry on whether the criminal justice system is fair and accurate (Messitte, 2010) . Prosecutors have used this method to get quick fixes and avoid the tedious court processes involved in a trial. While there are some negatives to plea bargaining, the benefits of the practice by far outweigh the potential setbacks. If prosecutors were not allowed to engage in plea bargaining, the criminal justice system would not be able to benefit from some of its advantages. The main benefit of plea bargaining is the reduction of overcrowding of cases in the judicial system. The long, tedious court process involving a jury is eliminated through a plea bargain. With plea bargaining defendants agree to a lesser offence which allows for shorter jail-terms hence reduces congestion in prisons. Plea bargaining is, therefore, a method used to economize judicial resources including judges, prisons and time needed for long trials (Messitte, 2010) . This would not be achieved, and lengthy criminal procedures would soon fail the justice system. Also, plea bargaining assures the conviction of the offender, which makes justice swift. This is unlike a court case where a known offender may go scot-free. Also, prosecutors can allocate resources to serious offences instead of small ones. Plea bargaining also removes the uncertainty of criminal proceedings. In some cases, criminal hire good lawyers who can convince the jury to let go of a guilty individual (Flynn, 2011) . Through a plea bargain, at least justice will be served. If plea bargaining was not allowed, these benefits would not be actualized. On the other hand, denying plea bargaining would result in the elimination of its disadvantages; hence, some benefits. First, plea bargaining provides some soft justice for guilty persons as a lighter sentence is presented to the individual (Flynn, 2011) . Therefore, a correct sentence is not offered for the guilty as proposed. This makes the judicial system highly ineffective and unfair because most criminals do not get what they deserve. Secondly, a guilty plea eliminates the right to a jury trial which is a right for every American. It is right to say that prosecutors put pressure on defendants to make them agree to a plea. Also, plea bargains lead to poor investigations, and justice may not be served right (Flynn, 2011) . Consequently, if prosecutors were not allowed to offer plea bargains, the judicial system would be more effective in delivering justice than when plea bargains allow for the quick dismissal of cases. Plea bargain interferes with the ability of both the prosecutor and the defence attorney in the criminal justice system. The prosecutor is expected to ensure the provision of justice in all cases; however, through plea bargains, the level of truth served may not be quality. This is because prosecutors often seek to end the trial prematurely (Flynn, 2011) . Consequently, there are often very shallow investigations carried out when a guilty plea is offered. This means that the criminal will not be charged with the full amount of offences committed due to inadequate investigations. Plea bargaining also denies the defence attorney the opportunity to represent their clients adequately and get the best possible results. The defence attorney has both trial and pre-trial services that they offer to the defendant. These include the protection of the rights of the person charged with the crime and guiding them on how to behave during the entire time of investigations and trial. The defence attorney represents the defendant in court by building a strategy to protect them. However, with plea bargaining, most of these representations are not available (Messitte, 2010) . The client is left to take up a plea that would probably not have gone through if a fair trial was possible.
References
Flynn, A. (2011). Bargaining with justice: victims, plea bargaining and the Victims' Charter Act 2006 (Vic). Monash UL Rev. , 37 , 73.
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Messitte, P. J. (2010, May). Plea bargaining in various criminal justice systems. In 11th Annual Conference on Legal and Policy Issues in the Americas. Uruguai .
