Plea bargains are essential to keep dockets flowing. Even mandatory punishments should be negotiable, especially if the driver had the money to hire a good lawyer, they argue. But that argument isn't supported by statewide caseload data. The per-judge caseload in district courts is similar between counties that usually fight for and win DUI convictions and counties that rely heavily on plea bargains, according to the data. For example, Fayette County, which has one of the highest DUI conviction rates, has the second-heaviest district court caseload in Kentucky.
Resentment flows both ways.
Legislators say they don't object to judges' wanting a range of punishments from which to choose. But they're angered that drunken drivers can walk away with a punishment weaker than the law requires. That's totally inappropriate. Lambert and his predecessor as chief justice, Robert Stephens, have sent mass mailings to judges in response to stories about courts ignoring the DUI law. Some judges apparently were not collecting it, he said.