Viewpoints: Plea-bargain mania threatens right to trial by jury | Opinion

With the blessing of the Supreme Court, state lawmakers began to punish the defendants with harsh, mandatory minimum sentences for convicting drug offenses and many other crimes. These laws tie the hands of judges, but give prosecutors the power to threaten a defendant with other related crimes in order to obtain a guilty plea.

At first glance, an admission of guilt may look like a win all round. The defendants avoid the cost and uncertainty of litigation. Prosecutors avoid time-consuming preparations for lengthy legal proceedings. Judges also benefit from avoiding lengthy court hearings.

But wait. A 2018 report by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Foundation for Criminal Justice entitled “The Trial Penalty: The Sixth Amendment Right to Trial on the Rande of Extinction and How to Save it,” reveals the popularity of pleading Mania. For the same federal crime, the report notes that the post-trial penalties are, in fact, much harsher than the post-trial penalties.

For example, “2015”, “The average penalty for fraud was three times as high (six years versus 1.9 years) for defendants who went to court versus those who plead guilty … high (12.5 years versus 1 , 6 years). ”The difference – a legal penalty – is the cost paid by the defendants if they are convicted in a judicial process.

But not everyone is convicted in one trial. Using data from 2016-2017, the NCSC found that nearly a third of jury trials nationwide resulted in acquittal or dismissal. If 400,000 New Yorkers had gone to court in 2019 instead of accepting an admission of guilt, well over 100,000 of them would likely have been found not guilty and set free.

https://buffalonews.com/opinion/viewpoints-plea-bargain-mania-threatens-right-to-trial-by-jury/article_4636c098-4ef2-11ec-b954-1fb0378b87b1.html