The study referenced is very worthwhile reading: The dominant version of American plea bargaining makes simi lar demands [to the Inquisition]: it requires the

The study referenced is very worthwhile reading: The dominant version of American plea bargaining makes simi lar demands [to the Inquisition]: it requires the prosecutor to usurp the determinative and sentencing functions, hence to make himself judge in his own cause. I cannot emphasize too strongly how dangerous this concentration of prosecutorial power can be. The modern public prosecutor commands the vast resources of the state for gathering and generating accusing evidence. We allowed him this power in large part because the criminal trial interposed the safeguard of adjudication against the danger that he might bring those resources to bear against an innocent citizen-whether on account of honest error, arbitrariness, or worse. But the plea bargaining system has largely dissolved that safeguard. Direct link: http://www.judicialstudies.unr.edu/JS_Summer09/JSP_Week_4/JS710Wk4.LangbeinTorandPleaBargtxt.pdf http://www.judicialstudies.unr.edu/JS_Summer09/JSP_Week_4/JS...