Tag: plea bargaining
-
The Role of Prosecutorial Discretion in Case Outcomes
Prosecutors decide which cases get charged, which plea out, and which die. Their discretion shapes outcomes more than judges or juries.
-
Bail Systems Can Pressure Defendants Into Pleas
Cash bail keeps people who haven’t been convicted in jail. The pressure to plead guilty just to get out distorts the justice system’s basic fairness.
-
Why some charges are overfiled
Prosecutors routinely stack charges they don’t expect to win at trial. Here’s why overfiling persists, who it hurts, and what reform actually looks like.
-
Why some innocent people plead guilty
Pleading guilty when you didn’t do it sounds impossible. The math of bail, plea bargains, and trial penalties explains why it happens constantly.
-
Going to trial isn’t always the best move
Trial feels like the principled choice, but for most defendants it’s the worse one. Here’s the math behind why pleas dominate and when trial actually makes sense.
-
Plea deals decide most cases, not trials
Roughly 95% of criminal convictions come from plea bargains, not trials. Here’s what that does to defendants, justice, and the constitutional system.
-
Why pretrial detention changes everything
Being held before trial reshapes case outcomes, plea decisions, and the rest of a defendant’s life. Here’s why detention itself is a punishment.