Michael Edelson: Plea bargains keep court’s ‘bucket’ from overflowing

[guest]

Why does plea-bargaining exist? Who stands to gain from this practice, and why does it occupy such a prominent place in our criminal justice system? Imagine a bucket which holds nine gallons of water. Now, try pouring 10 gallons of water into the same bucket. This one gallon overflow is equivalent to the percentage of cases in the criminal court which actually proceed to trial in Ontario each year.

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