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A view of plea discounts from across the pond
The Sentencing Academy, an expert group which examines sentencing in England and Wales, has published new report, Sentence Reductions for Guilty Pleas: A review of policy, practice and research. This new report was authored by by Jay Gormley, Julian V. Roberts, Jonathan Bild and Lyndon Harris, and here is part of its executive summary:
Most convictions in England and Wales in the Crown Court and the magistrates’ courts arise as a result of the defendant entering a guilty plea. Courts are explicitly required to consider the guilty plea when passing sentence by section 73 of the Sentencing Code (previously section 144 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003). Defendants who plead guilty and who waive their right to a trial are normally entitled to a sentence reduction. All common law jurisdictions offer sentence reductions to defendants who forgo their right to trial and instead plead guilty.