Plea-bargaining undermines the criminal justice system.

Yeah I was unable to compete in public forum because I switched to policy but I like the topic. I don't mind changing it to a crossfire but I am not quite sure how that would work online. Thanks for accepting :) Case: The goal of a criminal justice program is to enforce the standards of conduct necessary to protect individuals and the community, to reduce crime by bringing more offences to justice, and to raise public confidence that the system is fair and will deliver for the law-abiding citizen. Today we are faced with the question of whether or not certain parts of our legal system accomplish that goal correctly, and ethically. Resolved: Plea bargaining undermines the criminal justice system. My partner and I stand in firm affirmation of this resolution. Definitions: .Plea bargaining as defined by dictionary.com as An agreement that permits a defendant to plead guilty to a lesser charge instead of pleading not guilty to a more serious one. .I would also like to define undermines as to weaken or cause to collapse by removing underlying support, . Finally I would like to define criminal justice system as Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, and sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts My contention is that plea bargaining corrupts the criminal justice system. Sub point A- John Langbein, professor of law and legal history at Yale University says and I quotes "Plea bargaining works by threats, and it goes like this: 'Oh you want to exercise your constitutional right to a jury trial? Please be our guest . but understand if you exercise that right we will punish you more severely," he says. "In affect, that means we are punishing you twice. Once for what you did and once for having the temerity to exercise your right to face a jury. The Law reform Commission says that the acceptance of plea bargains is "something for which a descent criminal justice system has no place." [1] the practice of plea-bargaining has corrupted many prosecutors. they hold too much power over the defendants and end up bullying guilty verdict out of people which leads me to our Sub point B. Sub point B- Many defendants are bullied into guilty verdicts even though they did not commit the crime. When a prosecutor offers you a day in prison vs. a possible life time sentence in prison. Even though you didn't commit the crime it is reasonable to think that one might plead guilty which is exactly what happened to Robert H. who stayed anonymous in the article for the university of Chicago law review by Albert Alschuler and Andre Deiss. Robert spent six months in jail before seeing a public defender. When he saw the public defender she told him that he could plead guilty and go home that day with a felony charge and get out that day for time already spent OR he could wait another year before even getting to a court house. Only later did the authorities realize that a bureaucratic error had happened and that he was in fact innocent. during a plea bargain prosecutors in their own way legally threaten defendants to take a plea and plead guilty. the point of the justice system is to punish the guilty, not the innocent who are so desperate to get home that they will accept a plea bargain this does not accomplish the goals of the system but disrupts it. [2] Contention 2- Plea bargains are unfair to the victims and their families. Like in the legal case of Karla Homolka. Karla Homolka and her husband lured, raped and murdered three school girls, one of them her own younger sister Tammy Holmoka and another young girl Kristen French. Karla Holmoka who lured the girls into her house for her husband to rape, the woman who offered her own sister to be raped and killed is now roaming the streets because she plea bargained for testimony against her husband. She only spent twelve years in prison even though without her help those girls who were raped never would have been raped and scarred for the rest of their lives and those dead girls would be alive and well getting married themselves, starting their own families. Don't be mistaken Karla Homolka not only lured them she also had sex with the victims including her own sister. A few weeks before the prosecutor made the plea bargain tapes were found of Karla Holmoka raping the girls and taking part in the killing. Yet Karla Holmoka was able to plea bargain and is now free to lure, rape and kill other girls into similar situations. [3] Nothing else shows the dangers of plea bargaining and nothing else is a direct example of how plea bargains undermine the criminal justice system. The practice of plea bargains has had a detrimental affect on society. It has cause the innocent to go to jail and the guilty to get off free. This is the exact opposite of what the criminal justice system tries to do. It is unfair for the victims, the families and many times innocent people who are practically threatened into taking the plea. This is not what the criminal justice system is, it undermines it. for all these reason we urge you to vote in negation of this resolution for the innocent who are bullied into jail, for the families who see the killer and rapist of their loved ones walk free and for the dead girls who are in their grave as we as a society continue to trample on them by showing their murderers mercy even though they, the victims received none. 1. markbergen.net/Plea_Bargains_an_example_of_corrupt_legal_system.rtf 2. http://www.yale.edu... 3. http://www.cbc.ca... Again I am new so please let me know if I am not following the "way" of DDO