NCJ Number
104859
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Law Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (Summer 1986) Pages: 381-390
Date Published
1986
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The text of legislation that would regulate all the components of the guilty plea process is presented and discussed, with emphasis on the ways in which the current plea bargaining process bypasses constitutional safeguards for defendants as well as some protections for the public.
Abstract
The U.S. Supreme Court has held that plea bargaining per se does not violate the Constitution and that the process serves both the defendant's and the public's interests. However, commentators remain concerned about the inadequacy of formal structuring of plea bargaining and the lack of even informal guidelines for most aspects of the process. The proposed legislation is offered for discussion purposes rather than as a model. Provisions were drawn from case law, existing State legislation, published guidelines, or commentators' suggestions. The legislation includes charging considerations, a limitation on plea bargaining for certain categories of offenses; involvement of the defendant, the victim, and the police; the potential for judicial review of the charge; and a prohibition on filing a more serious charge simply because the defendant refuses to plead guilty to lesser ones. Additional sections mandate prosecutorial disclosure for an informed decision and an opportunity for similarly situated defendants to obtain the same deal. 9 footnotes.