Punishment Without Trial

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When Americans think of the criminal justice system, they often envision a courtroom trial with a jury, a right protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. However, Carissa Byrne Hessick, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, reveals that this ideal is far from reality. The right to a jury trial has largely vanished due to the rise of plea bargaining, which began during Prohibition and gained momentum after being affirmed by the Supreme Court in 1971. By 2018, over 97 percent of defendants opted for guilty pleas. This trend has severe implications, as nearly every aspect of the criminal justice system pressures defendants, regardless of their guilt or innocence, to accept plea deals. Hessick's work highlights how plea bargaining has eroded justice across socioeconomic and racial lines, compelling lawyers, judges, and defendants into a system that prioritizes efficiency over fairness. This has transformed the legal process into a mass incarceration machine, filling jails and punishing citizens simply because it is the easiest option.