Plea bargaining has replaced the trial

Of the 2,200,000 people in jail today, at least 2,000,000 are there as the result of a plea bargain rather than a trial. And the plea bargains largely determined the sentences imposed. In 2013, while 8 percent of all federal criminal charges were dismissed (either because of a mistake in fact or law or because the defendant had decided to cooperate), more than 97 percent of the remainder were resolved through plea bargains, and fewer than 3 percent went to trial. A similar situation applies in the states.

The plea bargain gives almost exclusive power to the prosecutor. The judge has no say. The Defense counsel is at the mercy of the prosecutor. Interestingly, we are the only major country that uses plea bargaining; other countries look upon it as allowing guilty defendants to avoid the full force of the law.

Also, the plea bargain is typically made in in the prosecutor’s office, and is subject to almost no review, either internally or by the courts. Furthermore, the process of plea bargaining has resulted in innocent people being so overwhelmed by the process that they plead guilty.

We need to return to have more trials or change the method of plea bargaining so that the prosecutor is not god.