Our Constitutional rights are being trampled on by the racist plea bargaining system. We need an end to what they call “The Trial Penalty”.
By Carissa Byrne Hessick, The Atlantic
The Bill of Rights exists to protect individuals. It protects the right to free speech, the right to due process, the right to counsel, and the right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, just to name a few. If a government official tries to deprive an individual of one of those constitutional rights, then the courts are supposed to intervene.
But that’s not what happens when it comes to one of the most important rights for criminal defendants—the right to a jury trial. Instead of protecting defendants’ right to have their guilt or innocence decided by their peers, judges routinely punish defendants for exercising that right.
Specifically, judges regularly impose longer sentences on those defendants who insist on going to trial than on those defendants who plead guilty. A 2018 report shows that, on average, defendants who insist on a trial receive sentences three times longer than those of defendants who plead guilty. This practice is so common that it even has a name: the “trial penalty.”
Recent Posts
Are We Willing to Actually Tax Billionaires or Only Willing to Talk About It?
Take Action Now The question before us in California is not complicated. Are we going to stand with the three million people—our friends and…
The Great American State Fair Is a Great Trumpian Disaster
Take Action Now The debacle on the National Mall captures an administration in free fall—and a president who is only interested in celebrating…
The Billionaire Money Behind New Centrist Pledge
Take Action Now Promise to America won’t disclose who is funding its new anti-socialist pledge. But the group is closely tied to the Welcome…
Climate Activists Take on a New Foe: Data Centers
Take Action Now Concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, and social justice fit organically into the growing anti-data…