Plea-Bargaining as Dialogue, 49 Akron Law Review
28 Pages Posted: 11 Dec 2015
Date Written: December 9, 2015
Abstract
The article proposes turning plea bargaining into a dialogical process, which would result in lessening the defendant's sense of alienation during the progress of the criminal justice procedure. It argues that plea bargaining constitutes an opportunity to circumvent restrictions existing during a trial or outside the trial, such as the inadmissibility of character evidence and the need for the victim's consent in restorative justice proceedings. The article proposes to navigate the plea bargaining process in a way that creates a real dialogue with defendants. Such a dialogue can reduce the sense of alienation that defendants feel from their very position as a defendant. To accomplish this dialogue, the prosecutor conducting the plea bargaining negotiations must be a different person than the prosecutor in the trial if negotiations break down.
Keywords: Criminal Procedure, Therapeutic Jurisprudence
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation