RT Article
T1 Trials and Tribulations: the Trial Tax and the Process of Punishment
JF Crime and justice
VO 48
SP 313
OP 363
A1 Johnson, Brian
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1743545347
AB The jury trial has long been a keystone of the American criminal justice system. Few defendants exercise their right to trial, however, and those who do tend to receive significantly harsher punishments if convicted. This phenomenon, known as a trial tax or, conversely, as a guilty plea discount, is one of the most profound and consistent findings in the empirical sentencing literature. Estimates of its magnitude differ across studies and jurisdictions, but it typically involves a two- to six-times increase in the odds of imprisonment and a 15–60 percent increase in average sentence length. Recent changes to American sentencing policy may have exacerbated plea-trial disparities, raising a host of moral, legal, and procedural questions about fair and equal treatment of defendants who exercise their right to trial.
K1 Jury trials
K1 Criminal justice system
K1 United States
K1 USA
K1 Guilty plea
K1 Trial tax
K1 Sentencing policy
DO 10.1086/701713