Part 1 Plea bargaining is a common practice in every criminal court in the United States. One of the strangest concepts is that the prosecutor enters into an agreement with the defense counsel for the

Part 1

Plea bargaining is a common practice in every criminal court in the United States. One of the strangest concepts is that the prosecutor enters into an agreement with the defense counsel for the accused. In exchange for a guilty plea, the defendant will receive a fixed punishment that both parties agree on. However, judges often hand down sentences that go against the plea bargain if they disagree with the severity of the sentence (or in their opinion, lack thereof). Typically, the parties inform the judge of the plea bargain prior to the judge imposing the sentence.

Write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

What are the major reasons for plea bargaining? Explain. 

Do you believe that these are all valid reasons? Why or why not? Explain in detail. 

Is plea bargaining a fair concept to all concerned? Why or why not? Explain. 

How do you think plea bargaining conflicts with mandatory sentences? Explain. 

What do you think are the most significant problems regarding plea bargaining? Explain.

Part 2

 3–4 pages

In last week's Individual Project, you selected at least 2 topics that you surmised were critical issues in the modern criminal justice system. The topics were to come from issues, problems, and policies from law enforcement, corrections, or the court system. Consider that you are working toward a final capstone project position paper, and make a selection of 1 of the topics you picked.

In this assignment, you will expound on one of the topics you selected by conducting a literature review. Use the literature you developed for references to prepare an analysis of the topic, and identify required changes, revocation, or additions to the issue, problem, or policy you selected for study. Here, you will provide research analysis to defend your position on the selected topic. 

Tip: The closer you can write this paper to the finished product for the capstone project, the more you will have completed toward the goal of the research. Looking ahead, you might consider if you are going to integrate this topic with a secondary topic that will be addressed in Week 3. Because you will be able to integrate the papers for Weeks 2 and 3 into the capstone project final paper, do an exceptional job and do not worry if you exceed the page requirement. It means you will have less to do in the final week when the pressure is on. The idea of your research is to direct the information you develop and analyze toward your final capstone project.

Assignment Guidelines

· Address the following in a literature review of 1–2 pages: 

· What topic have you selected for this assignment? Explain. 

· How did you select the topic you are researching? Explain. 

Now, take the sources from the annotated bibliography, and conduct a literature review. 

Address the following in 1–2 pages: 

· Why is this topic important to the criminal justice system and the citizens of the United States? Explain. 

· What are the various topic issues, problems, or policies associated with your selected topic? Explain in detail. 

· What do you propose as the changes to these topic issues, problems, and policies? Explain in detail. 

· Defend your changes with articulated support from legitimate peer-reviewed reference sources. This is absolutely critical for your paper to be taken seriously. 

Tip: The defense of your paper cannot be stressed enough. You must take care to support factual statements with valid reference material.