When might a judge refuse to approve a plea bargain?

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Salem witch trial — Plea bargaining A scene of the trials in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony, hand-colored engraving.

While judges must approve plea bargains, they rarely refuse to do so. However, a judge may decline to approve a plea bargain under the following circumstances:

The judge believes the defendant is legally innocent.1
The judge determines that the defendant has been coerced into pleading guilty.1
The judge concludes that the bargain calls for a penalty that is either excessively harsh or excessively lenient.1

Ensuring that a guilty plea is voluntary is a critical judicial responsibility, as established by the U.S. Supreme Court in cases such as Boykin v. Alabama (1969). Consequently, judges typically query defendants in court to confirm that their decision to enter a plea is made freely and without improper pressure.2