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Plea Bargaining in Historical Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2024

Lawrence M. Friedman
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Abstract

This paper, using mostly data drawn from a study of the criminal work of the Superior Court of Alameda County, California, from 1880 on, explores the history of plea bargaining. Plea bargaining, it turns out, was used in Alameda County from at least 1880, though it was by no means as common in the late 19th century as it is today. There is also ample evidence of “implicit plea bargaining,” that is, pleading guilty in expectation of a lighter sentence. The data from this study suggest that plea bargaining cannot be explained simply as a reaction to crowded court conditions. It is connected with structural and social changes in criminal justice, in particular, the rise of professional police and prosecutors.

Type
Historical Perspectives
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , Winter 1979 , pp. 247 - 259
Copyright
Copyright © 1979 Law and Society Association.

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Footnotes

The author's research on the history of criminal justice has been supported by LEAA Grant No. 75-N1-99-0080, and NSF Grant No. SOC76-24217. Many students have worked on aspects of the project. Robert V. Percival and Clifford J. Halverson have been of special help. I also wish to thank Jonathan Casper, Richard Abel, Mark Haller, and Lynn Mather.

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