Plea Bargaining: The Experiences of Prosecutors, Judges, and Defense Attorneys"That relatively few criminal cases in this country are resolved by full Perry Mason-style strials is fairly common knowledge. Most cases are settled by a guilty plea after some form of negotiation over the charge or sentence. But why? The standard explanation is case pressure: the enormous volume of criminal cases, to be processed with limited staff, time and resources. . . . But a large body of new empirical research now demands that we re-examine plea negotiation. Milton Heumann's book, Plea Bargaining, strongly and explicitly attacks the case-pressure argument and suggests an alternative explanation for plea bargaining based on the adaptation of attorneys and judges to the local criminal court. The book is a significant and welcome addition to the literature. Heumann's investigation of case pressure and plea negotiation demonstrates solid research and careful analysis."—Michigan Law Review |
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adaptation process Adapting to Plea adversary Adversary System argue argument asked attorney's behavior case-pressure charge circuit court client Connecticut court judge court personnel courtroom crime criminal court criminal justice system criminal law deal decision defendant's guilt defense attorney discussed ecutors expected experience factors factually guilty feel felony file motions formal go to trial guilty defendants guilty plea handle Herbert Kaufman hypothesis interview issues jail Jerome Skolnick judge's judicial jurisdiction jury Law Review law school lawyer look low volume courts mean motions and trials negotiated disposition newcomer's nolle nonserious Notes to Pages offense offer penalty percent Perry Mason plea bargaining process plea bargaining system plead guilty police political pressure private attorneys problem public defenders questions respondents role serious simply socialization state's attorney superior court suspended sentence talk things tion Yale Law Journal Yeah