As criminal courts become ever more crowded, prosecutors and judges feel increased pressure to move cases quickly through the system. As criminal courts become ever more crowded, prosecutors and judges feel increased pressure to move cases quickly through the system.
Trials can take days, weeks or sometimes months while guilty pleas can often be arranged in minutes.
For these reasons and others, and despite its many critics, plea bargaining is very common. And though some still view plea bargains as secret, sneaky arrangements that are antithetical to the people's will, the federal government and many states have written rules that explicitly set out how plea bargains may be arranged and accepted by the court. In theory, a plea bargain may be negotiated at any time after arrest. The criminal justice system, translated into plain English. Plea Bargains A discussion of the most common reasons why a defendant might want to enter into a plea bargain.