Yes yes yes.... I like your contract analogy. Far too often the DA wants a "win" so badly, he threatens to throw the book at someone forcing a plea. In many cases the plea is a very light sentence (a year of probation and time served for example),but the DA counts it as a win and claims he is tough on crime. This leaves the victims of the crime angry that justice wasn't served. The first response to this is that the public complains to their legislature and asks for even more laws on the subject. The DA won't charge anyone with those crimes either but will add those crimes to the threat of prosecution to get yet another plea deal and the cycle continues. Eventually, we'll end up with vigilante justice all over again as people lose faith in the system.