The vast majority of criminal cases in the United States are resolved through:

Question

Accepted Answer

Plea bargaining between the prosecution and defense. Approximately 90-95% of criminal cases in both federal and state courts are resolved through plea bargaining rather than going to trial. In a plea bargain, the defendant agrees to plead guilty (or no contest) to a charge, often a reduced charge, in exchange for a more lenient sentence or the dismissal of other charges. Both the prosecution and defense benefit: prosecutors secure convictions efficiently without the cost and uncertainty of trial, and defendants typically receive lighter sentences than they might after a trial conviction.

Full jury trials, while constitutionally guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, are actually quite rare in practice. The overwhelming caseload of the criminal justice system makes it practically impossible to try every case before a jury. Bench trials, decided by a judge without a jury, are more common than jury trials but still account for a small percentage of case resolutions. While judges do dismiss some cases before trial due to insufficient evidence, procedural errors, or constitutional violations, dismissals do not account for the majority of case outcomes.

Plea bargaining is both essential to the functioning of the criminal justice system and highly controversial. The Supreme Court has recognized plea bargaining as a legitimate and necessary component of the criminal justice process in cases like Brady v. United States (1970) and Santobello v. New York (1971). However, critics argue that plea bargaining can pressure innocent defendants into pleading guilty, especially when they face severe mandatory minimum sentences if convicted at trial. The prevalence of plea bargaining and its implications for justice are important topics for the DSST Criminal Justice exam.

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