The Cost of Plea Bargains: Reflections and Recommendations from the ABA Plea Bargain Task Force

From its early days in New England townships to its rise to dominance in the 20th century, plea bargaining has always presented both benefits and challenges. But how does a system obtain the benefits of these bargains without jeopardizing the fundamental rights at the center of the criminal justice system?

The Cost of Plea Bargains contains the complete task force report, including the 14 Principles that have now been adopted as the official policy of the ABA. These 14 Principles, which cover a host of topics such as the use of impermissibly coercive incentives, the use of pretrial detention in plea bargaining, the provision of adequate discovery before a defendant pleads guilty, and the collection of plea bargaining data by the courts, offer a vision for a fairer, more transparent, and more just plea bargain system. In addition, readers are offered deeper insights into many of the concepts, concerns, and proposals raised in the task force's findings through chapters authored by task force members representing various corners of the criminal justice system.

The Cost of Plea Bargains is an insightful read for anyone with an interest in our legal system. From the casual reader interested in learning more about plea bargaining to practitioners, courts, and policy makers interested in furthering their understanding of the challenges to reform. The Cost of Plea Bargains offers a wealth of knowledge, insight, and inspiration.

Lucian E. Dervan is a professor of law and Director of Criminal Justice Studies at Belmont University College of Law in Nashville, Tennessee. He created the ABA Plea Bargain Task Force during his time as chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section in 2018–2019 and went on to serve as cochair of the task force. He is also the founding director of the Plea Bargaining Institute, which serves as the global intellectual home for academics, policymakers, advocacy organizations, and practitioners working in the plea bargaining space to share knowledge and collaborate. His research and writing focus on plea bargaining, white collar crime, and international criminal law. In the plea bargaining field, his research and writing focus on the history of plea bargaining, the constitutionality of plea bargaining, the psychological forces present in the plea bargaining system, and the phenomenon of false pleas of guilty. In addition to his books and articles, he is the founder and author of The Plea Bargaining Blog. He is a member of the American Bar Foundation and previously served as a member of the ABA Board of Governors, chair of the ABA Commission on the American Jury, and chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section. Prior to joining the academy, Dervan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Phyllis A. Kravitch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He also practiced law with King & Spalding LLP and Ford & Harrison LLP.

Russell Covey is a professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law, teaching criminal law and procedure. He served as cochair of the ABA Plea Bargain Task Force. In addition to publishing many book chapters and articles in his field, Covey is the coeditor of The Wrongful Convictions Reader (Carolina Press 2018). He has filed amicus briefs on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Covey’s recent work studies police misconduct and the effects of jailhouse informants as causes of wrongful convictions.

Thea Johnson is a professor of law at Rutgers Law School. She served as the reporter for the ABA Plea Bargain Task Force. Her scholarship focuses on the ways that stakeholders manipulate the plea process and stretch ethical boundaries to achieve particular outcomes. She has won several awards for her scholarship, including the 2022 Greg Lastowka Award for scholarly excellence at Rutgers. Prior to joining Rutgers Law, Johnson was an associate professor of law at the University of Maine School of Law, a Thomas C. Grey Fellow at Stanford Law School, and a public defender in New York City.