The American practice of "plea bargaining" is often misunderstood. The practice might more accurately be referred to as a system of guilty plea "discounts." More than 90 percent of convictions are the result of guilty pleas. For most defendants who plead guilty, there has been no "bargaining." Rather, the defendant has accepted the prosecutor's offer to drop some charges in exchange for the defendant's plea of guilty to one or more remaining charges.

At the federal level, there is a tradition of "charge bargaining," that is, before the trial begins the prosecutor drops the most serious charge, and the defendant pleads guilty to a lesser one. In some counties and cities, the judge explicitly offers sentencing discounts. For example, the defendant is promised a 3-year minimum, 5-year maximum prison term if he/she pleads guilty before the trial takes place; however, he/she will face a 5-10-year minimum, 15-year maximum prison term if found guilty at trial.