A. White Collar

     Sentence inequities have been demonstrated by journalists in a number of cities. After years of light sentences for white collar criminals, judges have given long prison terms to corporate crooks. Obtain court documents and interview lawyers, judges, probation workers and court clerks. Can you find any pattern in sentencing?

B. Plea Bargain

     Most cities encourage defendants to plead guilty in return for lesser charges. The arrangement is known as plea bargaining and affects 70 to 85 percent of all criminal cases in large cities. The arrangement is the result of the increase in criminal cases and the effect on the criminal justice system.
     Without plea bargaining, say some legal experts, the system would be overwhelmed. But critics say it puts criminals back on the streets too soon. One district attorney decided to eliminate plea bargaining and in doing so voiced a belief held by police and many in the public. Plea bargaining, he said, "means that society has ceded control to those it has accused of violating its laws. And it means that our system is running us and not the other way around."
     In reply, a criminal court judge said, "Plea negotiations are as vital to the system as breathing and eating and sleeping are for human survival. You have a limited number of tax dollars. You can't build a courthouse as big as the Triborough Bridge, manned by half the population of the Bronx to try the other half of the Bronx."
     A civil rights lawyer said the elimination of plea bargaining has been considered by many cities and states but is in effect in few jurisdictions. Plea bargains, he continued, are "the aspect of the judicial system which most undermines confidence in it. People feel that their representative, the public prosecutor, has given in and the defendant has gotten a good deal."
     Examine the situation in your city. What percentage of cases are plea bargained? Interview judges, police officers, lawyers and others for an article on how the system works locally and what its effects are.