W12 Plea Bargaining Flashcards
What are the two primary goals of the criminal justice system (CJS)?
Truth vs. Conflict resolution.
What is the adversarial system?
A system where opposing parties present their case to an impartial judge or jury, focusing on conflict resolution.
What are the two types of justice discussed in the CJS?
Distributive justice (fairness of outcomes) vs. Procedural justice (fairness of procedures).
What is more important in the CJS: individual rights or the common good?
This raises the question of when it is appropriate to constrain individual liberty for the greater good.
Can you give an example of constraining individual liberty for the common good?
Examples include mental health background checks for gun licenses or laws against animal mistreatment.
What is the tension between equality and discretion in sentencing?
The issue of whether the same crime should receive the same punishment, and how context can affect fairness.
Describe the example of equality vs. discretion involving two manslaughter cases.
A male defendant who killed his unfaithful wife and a female defendant who killed her abusive husband; should they receive equal sentences?
What percentage of cases end in plea bargains in the US and Australia?
Approximately 90%.
How do plea bargains illustrate discretion in the justice system?
They show how procedural efficiency can conflict with the ideals of justice.
What are the implications of plea bargains on distributive and procedural justice?
They can lead to identical verdicts with different punishments and affect parity of pleas across defendants.
What is the “prosecutor’s dilemma”?
The challenge of balancing efficient outcomes with just outcomes, considering biases and heuristics.
What role does context play in the pursuit of equality in the CJS?
Context can lead to disparities in sentencing and how cases are treated, impacting fairness.
