Sociolegal Approaches to the Study of Guilty Pleas and Prosecution

Plea bargaining has become the dominant method within the American criminal justice system for obtaining guilty pleas and convictions. As a result, a plethora of empircal and theoretical research on plea bargaining has emerged in the past fifty years or so. The Shadow of Trial Theory, the Focal Concerns Theory, and the Court Community Perspective are all theoretical perspectives that help explain patterns and variations in the plea process. However, there is still significant research to be done, and existing theories and research could be expanded to create a more robust understanding of the plea process. This article suggests three areas that future research should develop, including the measurement of critical variables, the expansion of data and techniques, and the sharing of theoretical concepts across disciplinary realms.

“Given the incentive structures that are in place for prosecutors, defendants, and judges, it is not surprising that negotiated guilty pleas have come to dominate the contemporary landscape of criminal punishment in the United States.” p. 484