A Good Deal? Assessing the Benefits and Burdens of Plea Bargains to Defendants Charged with Drug Selling Activities

• In Event: Contexts of Drug Enforcement: Investigating Felony Drug Sales Arrests and Case Processing in Fulton County, Georgia

Abstract

The use of plea bargaining in criminal cases has burgeoned since the passage of tougher sentencing laws in the 1980s. Defendants increasingly accept plea bargains to expedite the resolution of their cases, and more importantly, to mitigate the risk of harsher outcomes from trial proceedings. Bargains may be struck to reduce the severity of charges (charge pleas), count of charges (count pleas), or sentences for charges (sentence pleas). Despite their predominance however, there is a dearth of literature on the comparative use and utility of each plea type. This is unfortunate as these plea types may have distinct implications for already established ethnoracial disparities in case processing. This study analyzes 2008 data for all adults arrested on intent to distribute or drug sales charges in Fulton County, Georgia to describe the frequency and type of plea arrangements accepted by defendants, and to compare the severity of imposed penalties (e.g. community based or incarceration) based on the nature of their pleas. Geographic data of defendants’ arrest locations are also mapped according to their plea type to further explore spatial variations in dispositions.

Authors

• Sarah Trocchio, Rutgers University

• Elizabeth Griffiths, Rutgers University