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

Mar 15, 2022 • 17m

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)

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