Why Have Guilty Pleas Increased During the Pandemic?

Why Have Guilty Pleas Increased During the Pandemic?

Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Season 1, Episode 1756 , Segment 3

Fish Travels by Duck, Exploring Moulins, Guilty Pleas

Episode: Fish Travels by Duck, Exploring Moulins, Guilty Pleas

  • Mar 15, 2022 9:00 am
  • 17:09 mins

Despite what you say on TV, most criminal cases don’t go to trial. More than 95% end with the defendant pleading guilty even if time reveals that they’re innocent of the crime. This is a long-term trend in the US justice system, and Miko Wilford says it appears to have accelerated during the pandemic. Wilford is a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. (Segment produced by Sam Faulconer)