Episode 3
Ep. 3 - Plea Bargaining
Why are so many people in prison for a crime they didn't commit? 90% of criminal cases never go to trial.
Links
- Invisibilia, S05E02 - Post, Shoot (NPR)
- Plea Bargaining in the United States (Wikipedia)
But in this era of mass incarceration — when our nation’s prison population has quintupled in a few decades partly as a result of the war on drugs and the “get tough” movement — these rights are, for the overwhelming majority of people hauled into courtrooms across America, theoretical. More than 90 percent of criminal cases are never tried before a jury. Most people charged with crimes forfeit their constitutional rights and plead guilty.
– Michelle Alexander, Go to Trial: Crash the Justice System (NYTimes)
Our theme music is District Four, by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.