Trial penalty
In the United States, the trial penalty refers to the difference between the smaller
Background
In a
The constitutionality of plea bargaining has been repeatedly affirmed by the
Definition
The trial penalty is the "discrepancy between the sentence the prosecutor is willing to offer in exchange for a guilty plea and the sentence that would be imposed after a trial".
Criticism
Right to trial
Critics argue that the trial penalty has the effect of depriving defendants' of their Sixth Amendment right to "a speedy and public trial".[10] A 2015 statistical analysis of federal cases by Andrew Chongesh Kim concluded that defendants who exercise their right to trial are penalized with sentences 64% longer than they would have received had they accepted a plea deal.[11] Kim argues that this makes trial by jury "less of a right and more of a trap for fools".
The
The lawyer
Presumption of innocence
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) has argued that trial penalties strip defendants of their presumption of innocence, pointing out that the "pressures defendants face in the plea bargaining process are so strong even innocent people can be convinced to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit".[8] The Association argues that this casts doubt "on the assumption that defendants who plead guilty do so voluntarily".
References
- ^ "The Trial Penalty: The Sixth Amendment Right to Trial on the Verge of Extinction and How to Save It". National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. 10 July 2018.
- ^ "An Offer You Can't Refuse: How US Federal Prosecutors Force Drug Defendants to Plead Guilty". Human Rights Watch. 5 December 2013.
- ^ Devers, L. (2011). Plea and Charge Bargaining. U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance. Retrieved from https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/media/document/PleaBargainingResearchSummary.pdf
- ^ "Criminal Cases". United States Courts. Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
- ^ Yoffe, Emily (September 2017). "Innocence is Irrelevant". The Atlantic.
Most people adjudicated in the criminal-justice system today waive the right to a trial and the host of protections that go along with one, including the right to appeal.
- ^ Gramlich, John (11 June 2019). "Only 2% of federal criminal defendants go to trial, and most who do are found guilty". Pew Research Center.
- ^ "Plea bargain". Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School.
- ^ a b c d "The Trial Penalty: The Sixth Amendment Right to Trial on the Verge of Extinction and How to Save It" (PDF). National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 23, 2021.
- ^ Neily, Clark (9 February 2018). "The Trial Penalty". The Cato Institute.
- ^ "Bill of Rights Transcript". Archives.gov. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
- ^ Kim, Andrew Chongesh (26 July 2015). "Underestimating the Trial Penalty: An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Trial Penalty and Critique of the Abrams Study". Mississippi Law Journal. 84 (5).
- ^ Dershowitz, Alan M. (5 November 2019). "Most Plea Bargains Are Unconstitutional". The Wall Street Journal.