• Should plea-bargaining be banned? Why or why not? Be specific. If not, what alternatives might be implemented? There is no “right answer” to this question. Please be clear with your position and make sure to fully reason the “whys.” (at least 2 paragraphs) (10 points)
• http://www.npr.org/2011/10/31/141730624/high-court-considers-when-bad-lawyers-taint-a-case.

  Galin Frye was charged with multiple counts of driving with a revoked license. During discovery, prosecutors offered to reduce the severity of Galin’s charges if he pled guilty and served a 90-day jail sentence. This offer was never communicated to Galin and, as a result, he pled guilty in open court and was sentenced to three years in prison. He argued on appeal (before the U.S. Supreme Court) that part of any defense is the conduct of plea negotiations and his lawyer’s failure to tell him of the prosecutor’s plea offer denied him the effective assistance of counsel guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. As it turns out, The Court agreed! You can read (and hear) the Court’s opinion here: http://www.oyez.org/cases/2010-2019/2011/2011_10_444.

• http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/10/how-we-misunderstand-mass-incarceration

  This article ran in a recent issue of The New Yorker. The article’s author, Adam Gopnik, is a longtime American writer and essayist who has been openly critical of the criminal justice system in the United States since the mid-1990s. In this piece, he discusses misconceptions with the ‘system’ and how these misconceptions lead to initiatives for reform that are not successful (and costly). He also discusses prosecutorial misconduct/over-reach and its impact on incarceration numbers.

  Please summarize one ‘misunderstanding’ identified by Adam. Discuss Adam’s position on this ‘misunderstanding’ and how he identifies it as a contributing factor to the overall issues in the criminal justice system. Likewise, take a position on the ‘misunderstanding’ using your own credible outside research. (at least 3 paragraphs) (20 points)

Please discuss whether the Court decided this case correctly. Why or why not? Be specific. (at least 2 paragraphs) (20 points)

Terms

Please comply with APA formatting/citation guidelines. No ‘abstracts’ are required. Please do not write in the first-person narrative (I, we, our…) You may use sub-sections.