Plea bargaining is a common practice in US criminal courts where prosecutors agree to a fixed punishment in exchange for a defendant's guilty plea. However, judges can impose sentences that differ from plea bargains if they disagree with the severity. The document asks a series of questions about plea bargaining, including its reasons, fairness, conflicts with mandatory sentences, and problems. The reader is then asked to select one criminal justice issue from a prior assignment to research further through a literature review analyzing the topic and proposing required changes supported by references.

1. Part 1
Plea bargaining is a common practice in every criminal court in
the United States. One of the strangest concepts is that the
prosecutor enters into an agreement with the defense counsel for
the accused. In exchange for a guilty plea, the defendant will
receive a fixed punishment that both parties agree on. However,
judges often hand down sentences that go against the plea
bargain if they disagree with the severity of the sentence (or in
their opinion, lack thereof). Typically, the parties inform the
judge of the plea bargain prior to the judge imposing the
sentence.
Write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions
with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the
foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be
substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.
What are the major reasons for plea bargaining?
Explain.
Do you believe that these are all valid reasons? Why or why
not?
Explain in detail.
Is plea bargaining a fair concept to all concerned? Why or why
not?
Explain.
How do you think plea bargaining conflicts with mandatory

2. sentences?
Explain
.
What do you think are the most significant problems regarding
plea bargaining?
Explain
.
Part 2
3–4 pages
In last week's Individual Project, you selected at least 2 topics
that you surmised were critical issues in the modern criminal
justice system. The topics were to come from issues, problems,
and policies from law enforcement, corrections, or the court
system. Consider that you are working toward a final capstone
project position paper, and make a selection of 1 of the topics
you picked.
In this assignment, you will expound on one of the topics you
selected by conducting a literature review. Use the literature
you developed for references to prepare an analysis of the topic,
and identify required changes, revocation, or additions to the
issue, problem, or policy you selected for study. Here, you will
provide research analysis to defend your position on the
selected topic.
Tip: The closer you can write this paper to the finished product
for the capstone project, the more you will have completed
toward the goal of the research. Looking ahead, you might
consider if you are going to integrate this topic with a
secondary topic that will be addressed in Week 3. Because you
will be able to integrate the papers for Weeks 2 and 3 into the

3. capstone project final paper, do an exceptional job and do not
worry if you exceed the page requirement. It means you will
have less to do in the final week when the pressure is on. The
idea of your research is to direct the information you develop
and analyze toward your final capstone project.
Assignment Guidelines
· Address the following in a literature review of 1–2 pages:
· What topic have you selected for this assignment? Explain.
· How did you select the topic you are researching? Explain.
Now, take the sources from the annotated bibliography, and
conduct a literature review.
Address the following in 1–2 pages:
· Why is this topic important to the criminal justice system and
the citizens of the United States?
Explain.
· What are the various topic issues, problems, or policies
associated with your selected topic?
Explain in detail.
· What do you propose as the changes to these topic issues,
problems, and policies?
Explain in detail
.
· Defend your changes with articulated support from legitimate
peer-reviewed reference sources. This is absolutely critical for

4. your paper to be taken seriously.
Tip: The defense of your paper cannot be stressed enough. You
must take care to support factual statements with valid reference
material.