Op-Ed: Plea Bargain Reforms Needed in New Jersey

09.06.17 By Innocence Staff

Op-Ed: Plea Bargain Reforms Needed in New Jersey

An op-ed in SNJ Today by guest columnist Albert Kelly highlights the need for reforms in the area of plea-bargaining in New Jersey.

Kelly notes that in 94 percent of cases in the state, the defendant took a plea bargain. In many of those cases, the defendant may have pleaded guilty to a crime he or she did not commit simply to avoid the possibility of jail time.

For many working people, the consequences of even a short jail sentence are dire: loss of employment, loss of child custody and loss of housing due to missed rent payments. When the stakes are that high, taking a case to trial is too much of a risk, even for those who are innocent of the crimes of which they are accused.

In nearly 11 percent of the nation’s 350 DNA exonerations, the defendant took a plea deal. The National Registry of Exonerations has identified 360 cases of innocent people who pleaded guilty.

Kelly notes that defendants usually take plea deals at the advice of their court-appointed attorneys, who are often overwhelmed with casework and short on time and resources.

“If you get a public defender, it’s generally little more than face time in a hallway, some horse trading with the prosecutor about your future and a ‘take-it-or-leave-it’ offer,” Kelly wrote. “Actual guilt or innocence can be a bit of a nuisance, expensive, and almost beside the point—so you plead.”

Kelley suggests reforms begin with public defense, ensuring that sufficient funding and resources are dedicated to providing adequate representation and a fair trial for all people.

Kelly writes: “The fact that we have innocent people pleading guilty suggests, at the very least, that plea bargains have become weaponized. At worst, it is a betrayal of ‘innocent until proven guilty, the state meeting its burden, being judged by one’s peers, and basic fairness.”

Read the full op-ed here.

Learn more about guilty pleas at guiltypleaproblem.org

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Timothy Gray October 23, 2018 at 6:12 pm Reply   

Mr Kelly brings up some good points and issues that need to be addressed. Also private attorneys also want people to take the plea deal as well because they look at people’s social economic status the attorneys time and also to see if they themselves can commit a crime “theft if service” while taking their clients money and not providing the service. Also people may feel bullied and intimated by their attorney and or the prosecutor. Some people do not want to plead guilty but are pressured into it I am sure just like Mr Kelly said “take it or leave it” maybe even commission or some bonuses are handed out for the number of guilty pleas a prosecutor can obtain within a certain period of time. Some attorneys take on cases they are not qualified to do or handle just to take the clients money. There are numerous reasons but I feel a lot if it comes down to money and how much money the state can get or how much a private attorney can “milk” his or her client. It’s an issue that really needs to be addressed