Criminal Justice – The Right to Trial

In this episode, the hosts discuss the perils of exercising the right to trial. Public defenders don’t exist everywhere, and where they do, they are overworked and underfunded. Prosecutors fail to disclose evidence helpful to defendants and use peremptory challenges to affect jury composition. Jury verdicts are rarely overturned. Ninety-five percent of the 11-14 million persons arrested each year in the U.S. plead guilty, and this may be the rational choice.

Some Related Links: https://www.drugwarfacts.org/node/235#overlay=table/total_arrests – Stats on arrests across the country. https://wtkr.com/2018/12/22/one-innocent-man-gets-six-years-for-murder-the-other-life/ https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/harmless_error_new_study_claims_prosecutorial_misconduct_rampant https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/supreme-court-ramos-v-louisiana-juries-opinion.html – We recorded this podcast before the Supreme court made a decision effecting Split jury verdicts in Louisiana and Oregon