The current system, which includes plea bargains, is greatly flawed. Prosecutors in the US simply have too much power as well as distorted incentives. If they d

The current system, which includes plea bargains, is greatly flawed. Prosecutors in the US simply have too much power as well as distorted incentives. If they did not have this power then they would not be able to abuse the plea bargain system as they do. But eliminating plea bargains would not be an improvement. Despite the abuses it does improve efficiency and if it did not exist it would not materially reduce prosecutorial power although it would reduce the number of convictions per year. Bad plea bargains are a symptom, not the cause.