When Do the Innocent Plead Guilty?
27 Pages Posted: 19 Jan 2018
Date Written: January 12, 2018
Abstract
The implications of a strategic model of plea bargaining are threefold. First, prosecutors induce the innocent to plead guilty when trial costs are high. Second, plea bargaining unequivocally increases wrongful convictions. Lastly, police share an important role in minimizing wrongful convictions. Law enforcement cannot rely on prosecutors to sort the guilty from the innocent.
Keywords: plea bargain, wrongful conviction, prosecutor behavior
JEL Classification: K10, K14, K40
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Lundberg, Alexander, When Do the Innocent Plead Guilty? (January 12, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3100845 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3100845
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