IS THE PLEA BARGAIN PROCESS JUST?

Is the plea bargain process just?

Is the plea bargain process just?

Introduction

HIV-AIDS has infected over thirty million people in the world. Over 95% of all AIDS cases in the world are in Africa and in some of those countries over 40% of the people are infected (Frederickson and Kanabus HIV and AIDS in Africa 1). AIDS does not solely affect homosexuals, or any certain ethnicity of people, either; HIV-AIDS can affect any type of ethnicity including African Americans, Caucasians, Asians, Indians, and Hispanic people. AIDS cannot be reversed or cured, but with proper treatment this fatal virus can be controlled and people can live a almost normal life. In Africa, though, proper treatment is not nearly as available as it is in some other countries (Donnelly, 2003, 56-59).

Approximately 2.3 million people died in 2003 in Sub-Saharan Africa only and that is merely the beginning. Because of AIDS and its overwhelming effects and growing infection rates in Africa, organizations and governments are increasing their efforts to discontinue this disease. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on AIDS efforts, but still the disease continues to spread and take thousands of people's lives each year(Chase, 2004, 1-2).

AIDS in Uuganda

In 1992, 20% of Uganda, Africa was infected with HIV-AIDS. In 1995, 1/3 of the country was infected. Today over 40% of Botswana is infected with HIV-AIDS, and these numbers continue to increase (Mirsky, and Kahn, 1997). The rest of Africa is mimicking these same numbers as infection rates continue to rise. Of the 27 million infected in Africa, 3.2 million were new cases diagnosed in 2003, and over 2.3 million people died in Africa because of HIV-AIDS last year (Chase, 2004, 1-2). Such numbers are astronomical compared to the rest of the world. In the United States less than 1% of the population is infected; in Russia and India the numbers also match the United States. In Thailand, where it is claimed to be more corrupted in sex and drug trades and have even fewer anti-AIDS efforts than in Africa, the infection rates are still less than 2% (Frederickson HIV 70). Sub-Saharan Africa is the worst region to be infected with AIDS. While countries like Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho and Zimbabwe all have infection rates reaching near 40%, West African countries barely top 10% in some places (Frederickson 2). In Sub-Saharan Africa, 11 million children have been orphaned by AIDS (Frederickson AIDS orphans in Africa 1). Of the 27 million people infected, 10 million are between the ages of 15 and 24, and 3 million are estimated to be under the age of 15 (Frederickson HIV 1).

In Uganda nearly half of all pregnant women in the main hospital tested positive for HIV. These pregnant women will give birth to children who will have as much as a 90% chance of contracting the virus from their mother (Donnelly, 2003, 56-59) The high rates of infection come despite efforts in many communities to conquer the HIV epidemic through educational programs, ...