Discussion 

It is oftentimes argued that plea bargaining is necessary because it quickly disposes of cases—without it, the criminal justice system would be unable to function because it would become overwhelmed. Yet, Walker (1993) provides evidence to the contrary. In places where plea bargaining was abolished no such result occurred. With this in mind, and considering all that you read in both Walker (1993) and Gottfredson and Gottfredson (1988), do you believe that we should have a system of plea bargaining in this country? Why or why not? Does the decline in the conviction rate that Walker (1993) discusses concern you in any way, or is this something that we should not be concerned about?