For many, the jury trial represents the cornerstone of criminal justice itself: a truth-seeking mission that allows a person to be judged by a panel of peers. But trials have become rare. Around 97 percent of all criminal cases don't go to trial but instead end in guilty pleas, most of them the result of a bargaining process driven by prosecutors with the power to coerce defendants into giving up their right to a trial.
R Street’s First 100 Days Blueprint for Criminal Justice Reform in the 46th Presidential Administration
Human dignity, public safety, individual liberty, fiscal responsibility and strong families: We at R Street believe these principles are vital to American democracy and are all-the-more critical when deciding upon the policies and practices inherent to our criminal justice systems. After all, the criminal justice system is the only arm of local, state and federal governments given the power to take away years of an individual’s life and constrain them to a cell, away from society and often with little hope for a better future. It is also the arm of government charged with responding to crime in a way that brings justice and prevents future harm.