A common misconception about the court system involves the frequency of trials and acquittals. In 2022, about 90% of federal defendants pled guilty. Of those who didn’t, 8% had their cases dismissed. That leaves 2% for the people who pled not guilty and went to trial, where only 0.4% won their case.
Plea bargaining remains one of the larger reasons for this phenomenon. After being charged with a crime, but before navigating any pre-trial motions, the defendant speaks with the prosecutor to decide if they want to plead guilty for the crime they committed. There will be no trial---the court goes straight to preparing for a sentencing.
Plea bargaining often looks appealing for defendants. A prosecutor can give them a sentence lower than the maximum they could get if they lost in a trial. Even if the defendant did not commit the crime, they still might want to play it safe and take the plea rather than roll the dice and get into the 0.4% of people who are acquitted. In the current CJS, the prosecutor holds all power over the defender. Do these prosecutors, however, always have justice’s interest in mind when negotiating these pleas?
Plea bargaining can remain in the justice system, but 90% indicates an abuse of prosecutor power. Some of the power must go back to the defendant and the judge. This can take the form of teaching the defendant about the process and the consequences of taking a plea. There should also be more consequences for the prosecutor in the case of wrongful convictions. Prosecutors must receive penalties if someone is wrongfully convicted pleas under their deal.
If someone chooses to go to trial and cannot make bail, they can stay in jail until their trial date (however far away it is). Bail feeds into plea deals and both need reform to deliver justice to defendants. We’ll learn about bail next week.
Further Reading
Fewer Than 1% of Federal Criminal Defendants Were Acquitted in 2022 (Source of graphic above)
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