Hi Class, Recently there was a study done by The Wilson Center for Science and Justice and the office of Berkshire District Attorney Andrea Harrington that looked at the impact plea bargains in criminal courts. The goal of the study was to establish baselines to measure progress, enhance transparency with the public and justice actors, and identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement in practices. The study looked at the decision-making process on more than 1,000 cases, and found that the prosecutors heavily weighed available rehabilitative options and frequently noted a lack of available resources, limiting rehabilitative options for some defendants ("Wilson Center, Berkshire District Attorney's office release unprecedented trove of data on plea agreements," 2022). One finding of note is that the study found that a higher proportion of Black defendants pled guilty in District Court than white defendants, who more frequently obtained continuances or other alternative dispositions. Thoughts