jurisdiction and on the context of its use.[9] However, to identify the core problems of plea bargaining, we must first settle on a

definition that encompasses the broad range of practices that may be considered plea bargaining. Black's Law Dictionary

provides a general definition that serves as a useful starting point to highlight the common misunderstandings of what constitutes

plea bargaining. Black's defines plea bargaining as:

The process whereby the accused and the prosecutor in a criminal case work out a mutually satisfactory disposition of the case subject to court approval. It usually involves the defendant's pleading guilty to a lesser offense or to only one or some of the counts of a multi-count indictment in return for a lighter sentence than that possible for the graver

The first part of the definition suggests that plea bargains are "mutually satisfactory dispositions." While it is true that the bargain

struck must be agreed upon by both sides and the guilty plea must be made intelligently and voluntarily,[11] this does not guarantee

convictions occur without trial. The judiciary articulates great principles that govern the determination of guilt at trial, but then the

prosecutor's own calculation of the defendant's degree of culpability measured against the ability of the prosecutor to prove it at

offer by discounting their chance of success at hearings and trial, considerations some argue are irrelevant to any proper objective

justifications for the use of plea bargaining that are evident in the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on the subject. These

Evident from the origins of plea bargaining, the increased adversarial nature of jury trials led to a corresponding increase in

The primary criticism of plea bargaining lies in the idea that it subverts many of the values of the criminal justice system.[102]

Additionally, the justifications for plea bargaining do not consist solely of the need for an efficient administration of justice.

faster than full-scale jury trials.[69] In fact, primarily for the same efficiency reasons, the Court added that "[as long as it is]

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