77: America Has A Guilty Plea Problem

About this episode

The episode discusses the prevalence of guilty pleas in the federal criminal system and features insights from a Federal Public Defender.

(WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE) Today, 98% of all federal criminal cases are resolved with a guilty plea. Why? "Half a loaf is better than none. . . . When we have a weak case for any reason, we'll reduce to almost anything rather than lose." In modern America, "beyond a reasonable doubt" as determined by a jury has largely been replaced by the discretion of prosecutors to punish defendants for exercising their constitutional right to a trial by jury. So much so, defendants in pretrial detention are agreeing to plea "bargains" at a rate so high, it’s difficult to deny the obvious: Innocence is irrelevant. Reb is joined by Hannah Bogen, a Federal Public Defender in the Office of the FPD for the Central District of California, the largest public defense office in the federal system. Hannah shares her firsthand experience with indigent defense, pretrial detention, plea bargaining, and sentencing policy—a rare glimpse into the real lives of her clients in the federal criminal system, and public defenders' enduring fight for dignity and mercy for the people whom society often forgets...Until it happens to you. **DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions discussed in this episode are personal…

People in this episode

Host: Rebmasel

Guest: Hannah Bogen

Topics covered

• guilty pleas
• plea bargaining
• criminal justice
• public defense
• pretrial detention
• sentencing policy

Keywords

• guilty plea
• plea bargain
• criminal cases
• indigent defense
• pretrial detention
• sentencing
• constitutional rights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Office of the Federal Public Defender, Central District of California, Offices of the Federal Public Defender

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