Plea Bargain to

Mass Incarceration
Pipeline
By: James Hession, Justin Drayton, Kerri McCarthy
 Table of contents
01. 02. 03.
Individual Community Based Law
Example Documentary Implementation

04. 05.
Proposal & Conclusion
Mindset
01.
Individual
Example
Tim Conerly
 Current Issue
● What is plea bargaining?
○ Primary motum to handle criminal charges
■ Became popular in 20th Century NY
● Who does it benefit?
○ It was created so that both the prosecution and
defense lawyers benefit
■ Something interesting is that it never
mentions the benefit of the victim or the
defendant.
● What allows it to continue?
○ Multiple Bill
○ 3 Strike Law
○ Lack of clarity in 6th Amendment
 Proposal
● Their must be the same amount of public defenders as
prosecutors
○ If prosecutors are overworked and there are already less public
defenders then it can be assumed that public defenders are even more
overworked
■ Cases result to plea’s because Public Defenders and Prosecutors
do not have enough time to take every case to trial
● Mandate a set number of meetings that Public Defenders and
Prosecutors must meet with each defendant
○ This may sound unattainable due to lack of time, but with the increased
amount of funding and then resulting in more jobs opening their should
ideally be more time to meet
“In cases in which evidence for or against a
defendant is questionable, bargains may
represent a feasible way for the attorneys to
minimize their potential losses by settling on a
mutually acceptable outcome” (Meyer 2024).
02.
Community Based
Documentary
 Current Issue
● People in New Orleans are made unaware of
how the system takes advantage of them and
uses plea bargaining as their main advantage
● There is a lot of stigma around plea bargaining
that many people would rather take the plea
instead of going through the criminal process
○ The Process is the Punishment
● Guilty Until Proven Guilty
○ Focuses on New Orleans area- Tim Conerly is a
main example
 Proposed Change
● Educating People
○ This is the biggest issue that is seen when it
comes to plea bargains, people do not
know their rights when it comes to it and
have no idea what to do if they are put into
that situation and how the system takes
advantage of them.

● How would we do this?

○ Massive Community Event in New
Orleans
What would this look like?
● What would happen at this community event?
○ Screen “Guilty Until Proven Guilty”
■ Free to all people
○ Q&A with local authorities
■ Some preset guided questions
● Want them to build a relationship with the
community

● How do we reach the people?

○ Social media campaigns
○ Contact local state and federal representatives
○ Go to local college campuses and high schools
○ Local news stations and radio station
○ Post flyers
○ Text Alerts
○ Live Stream the event for those who can’t make it
03.
Federal Law/Local
Implementation
 Brady v. US and legality of Plea
Bargain Laws
- Plea bargains have long
been recognized by the
SCOTUS as a necessary
part of the judicial
process
- Brady v. US (1969)
established the legality of
it when it determined that
the possibility of a death
penalty does not coerce
the defendant to plead
guilty
- It also laid out specific The Burger Court, 1969
conditions for a plea to be
valid
- Defendant must be "fully aware of the direct consequences, including the actual value of any
commitments made to him"
- Plea must not be "induced by threats (or promises to discontinue improper harassment),
misrepresentation (including unfulfilled or unfulfillable promises), or perhaps by promises that are by
their nature improper as having no proper relationship to the prosecutor's business (e. g. bribes)"
- Pleas entered would not become invalid later merely due to a wish to reconsider the judgment which
led to them, or better information about the Defendant's or the State's case, or the legal position.
- Plea bargaining "is no more foolproof than full trials to the court or to the jury. Accordingly, we take
great precautions against unsound results. [...] We would have serious doubts about this case if the
encouragement of guilty pleas by offers of leniency substantially increased the likelihood that
defendants, advised by competent counsel, would falsely condemn themselves. But our view is to
the contrary and is based on our expectations that courts will satisfy themselves that pleas of guilty
are voluntarily and intelligently made by competent defendants with adequate advice of counsel and
that there is nothing to question the accuracy and reliability of the defendants' admissions".
- The ruling in Brady does not discuss "situation[s] where the prosecutor or judge, or both, deliberately
employ their charging and sentencing powers to induce a particular defendant to tender a plea of
guilty. In Brady's case there is no claim that the prosecutor threatened prosecution on a charge not
justified by the evidence or that the trial judge threatened Brady with a harsher sentence if convicted
after trial in order to induce him to plead guilty."
 Plea Bargain Rules Summarized

1. Defendant must be fully

aware of the direct
consequences, including of
those given within the plea
bargain
2. Plea must not be met
through threats, unfulfilled
promises, or bribes
3. Pleas cannot become
 Connection to Local Cases
Brady v. United States

Federal Supreme State Supreme Court

Court Plea Bargain Law
United States Supreme Court Louisiana's Implementation
Supreme Court
—--
—-- —--

Federal Legislative Louisiana State

Branch (Congress) Legislature
 Law Implementation (Louisiana)
- Louisiana Legislature has two
chambers: a 39-member Senate
and a 105-member House of
Representatives
- To implement our proposed
changes, they would be
amendments to the current
Louisiana criminal code
- The amendment would have to
pass by both chambers of the
Legislature, and not be vetoed by
the sitting governor Louisiana Senate Chamber
Louisiana Procedure for Felony Plea Bargains
 What would our change look like?
A very simple amendment to Article 556.1 A
- It would read something along the lines of:
- (4) That the Louisiana Judicial System possessed the
same number of public defenders as well as
prosecutors
- (5) That he was given a mandated number of meetings
between his Public Defender and Prosecution team
Though there are so many different specific ways to
implement it, that’s the beauty of our legal system!
04.
Targeting Local
Governments
→ Mindset
 Targeting Local Governments
● Multiple Bill
○ This is a bill that is prominent in Louisiana
● 3 Strike Law
○ These are laws that are implemented across the nation

*These laws together are hindering the ability for citizens to achieve a fair trial
or sentence structure because these are compounding their offer due to prior
offenses*
● You can not attack the national laws without beginning with the
local government
○ Using the community screening we can generate conversation to
repeal laws like these to promote fair and just sentencing and eliminate
pleas
 Mindset
Current
● We perceive it as a win for all, when it
is in fact a win for prosecution
statistics
● We assume that each defendant
knows what they are giving up
● We assume that it is a compromise
so both parties benefit
● We ignore the injustice of the Multiple
Bill and the 3 Strike Laws
Future
● Focus on justice for both the victim and
the defendant
● Fully inform the defendant of what they
are losing when they take part in a plea
bargain
● Each defendant will be having a plea
that is a fair alternative and not used as
leverage for a compounding threat of
trial
● Removing the unconstitutional laws
that threaten the freedom of repeat
offenders
 Know What You’re
Giving Up
● Article 556 Section 1
○ Many people when they agree to a plea
believe they are meeting in the middle
however it is so much more
○ You’re losing:
■ The right to vote.
■ The right to bear arms.
■ The right to due process.
■ The right to equal protection.
05.
Conclusion
 Conclusion
Individual
Tim Conerly is one person
who represents thousands.
Where he battles the odds of
5 versus 50.
Community Event
Having a community event is
the best way to spread
awareness about what is truly
going on and give the public
knowledge on the topic
Current Issue
Using plea bargains to target
those defendants that are
easy targets to benefit
prosecutorial statistics.
Law Implementation
A simple initiative in the
Louisiana State Legislature
can add procedures within
the criminal code, making
plea bargains a must more
just, equitable system
 Sources
Brady v. United States, 397 U.S. 742 (1970
LA Code Crim Pro 890.1 (2018)

(Harry Moses). (2018). Guilty Until Proven Guilty [film].

Louisiana laws - louisiana state legislature. (n.d.).

https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112613

Meyer, J. F. (2024, January 6). plea bargaining. Encyclopedia

Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/plea-bargaining