history plea bargaining? When ? 2. What recent statistics plea bargaining U.S. ( current year)? What

Bargaining With Pleas

The history of plea bargaining can be traced back to the end of the colonial era in the United States. Plea bargaining was known to exist in this country since at least 1780, a fact that is corroborated by author George Fisher. Fisher dedicated a significant amount of research to the history of this legal device in the court systems of Middleton, Massachusetts (McCoy, 2003). Initially, plea bargaining was used as a way to convict criminals of victimless crimes, the best example of which was the illegal sale of alcohol. A crucial component to the early use of plea bargaining was the fact that there were a bevy of mandatory sentencing laws, much like there are federal minimum mandatory sentencing laws for narcotics related offense today (McCoy, 2003). Those convicted of...
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