The majority of studies examining incapacitation effects demonstrate a small but positive effect in reducing crime. However, this crime prevention effect is associated with significant increases in prison populations. Crime can be reduced if the career criminals were identified and incapacitated. This selective incapacitation strategy would identify the offenders who were predicted to commit serious crimes at a higher rate so they could be incarcerated for long periods of
Sometimes the prosecutor will trade a guilty plea for the recommendation of a lighter/shorter sentence. This is only a recommendation and the judge can override it and sentence what he feels would be appropriate. 3. Defendants may plead guilty to one charge in exchange for other charges against being dropped. If a defendant is accused of several charges, the prosecutor may recommend pleading guilty to one of the charges instead of having all of the charges brought against him/her.
The prosecutors work load is also reduced as a result of a plea bargain and thus they are accorded a chance to concentrate on other cases that can not be settled through plea bargaining. Besides the prosecutor, the judge also reaps the benefit of plea bargaining. This is because plea bargaining ensures speedy conclusion of cases that would have otherwise taken long to conclude hence ensuring movement of the system as a whole. Finally, it helps in reducing congestion in jails and prisons as a result of some of the defendants receiving suspended sentences from their plea bargains (McConnell, Michael & Chester,
The reason for this is because magistrates mainly deal with the more mundane cases such as petty theft and traffic violations. Hence, no need for costly and time consuming defences which may be needed at Crown court particularly if a guilty verdict results in a custodial sentence. Magistrates’ decisions have few appeals which indicate that their ruling is generally accepted. (A. Mitchell, 2nd AS Law, P190). Even though professional district judges can get through 30% more cases than a lay magistrate, (mainly because they spend less time conferring with court clerks), they cost £61.78 per hour.
The right to a jury is also similar to the right to vote, it has become an inseparable part of our democratic system. Having a jury system also keeps many Australian citizens happy, as a recent NSW survey showed that 93% of them want to keep the current jury system in trials. Although juries are very useful, they do have some disadvantages. For example, the cost of paying for 12 people every trial is quite expensive, not to mention the cost of food and other court expenses. Many juries also don’t fully understand the legal system, which can be seen as a good thing because the accused is being judged by his peers, but it could also lead the jury to make an incorrect decision on whether the suspect is guilty or not guilty.
With a guilty plea the process shifts the focus from the jury and judge to the prosecutor and defence counsel. It expected by the public for the truth to be discovered through the fact finding trial process. In practice plea bargaining may prevent a public finding of the facts and substitute a behind the scenes cut short plea bargaining process that fashions an offence that may or may not be supported by the evidence and this also determines the variety of penalties available to the court and limits the discussion of the evidence (Palermo et al, 1998). Plea bargaining is a notion which is well known and generally used and accepted in the United States. This usually consists of a deal being made between the prosecutor and the defence an example of plea bargaining is when the prosecution offers to drop a more serious charge against the accused in exchange for guilty plea of a lesser charge and the
Intermediate sanctions are a variety of punishments that are more restrictive than traditional probation but less severe and costly than incarceration. The purpose of intermediate sanctions is to make the offender pay for the crime they committed in a way that isn’t unfair or to costly to the justice system. For example, if a person gets a speeding ticket, instead of putting them in jail for a year which would cost us a lot of money, we just make them pay a fine. The idea of intermediate sanctions is good because it saves us money and gives people that commit non serious offenses or crimes the chance to show they don’t belong in jail. On the other hand, it may lead some people to think that it is ok for them to do these offenses because they don’t have to go to jail as a consequence.
The occurrence of plea bargaining and pleading guilty even though the defendant professes his or her innocence is a rising and questionable phenomenon in the US court system. Pleas are sought to minimize sentence and the number of trials. (Mousseau, 2008) Pleading guilty typically comes with a “built-in incentive,” lessened sentence in exchange for a guilty plea. The defendant
Why? Because they are getting paid the rates they want and they are hired to get the criminal the lesser charge as possible. While the criminals with a public defender, because they cannot afford a private attorney just get represented because they have to. “Most people agreed that ‘it would be easy to get a lawyer if I needed one,’ while at the same time expressing the view that ‘it costs
The advantages of representative democracy is that it is a good system for countries with a larger population as getting a large population to vote for many referendums is impractical and tiring, and a large range of opinions could potentially cause policies to take longer to get through then there would be if there was just a select few making laws. Representative democracy also allows decisions and laws to be made by experienced politicians with a better education than the mass of people. Therefore they are able to run the government using their own knowledge of public interest whilst also seeing the