Straining at gnats and swallowing camels: The selective morality of Professor Bibas

'Alford' pleas are awful. There could hardly be a clearer violation of due process than sending someone to prison who has neither been found guilty nor admitted his guilt. If anything short of torture can shock your conscience, 'Alford' pleas should. A criminal justice system tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cornell law review 2003-07, Vol.88 (5), p.1412-1424
Main Author: Alschuler, Albert W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquittals
Analysis
Bibas, Stephanos
Confessions
Denunciation (Criminal law)
Evaluation
Plea bargaining
Pleas (Criminal procedure)
Public prosecutors
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:'Alford' pleas are awful. There could hardly be a clearer violation of due process than sending someone to prison who has neither been found guilty nor admitted his guilt. If anything short of torture can shock your conscience, 'Alford' pleas should. A criminal justice system that could make accepting these pleas a lesser evil than rejecting them would have to be atrocious, and ours is. Stephanos Bibas's analysis of 'Alford' pleas does not look our criminal justice system squarely in the face. His denunciation of 'Alford' and nolo contendere pleas sounds only one horn of a dilemma.
ISSN:0010-8847