A 2017 article in the Economist titled “The Troubling Spread of Plea‐Bargaining from America to the World” describes one of the United States’ most pernicious exports and cautions other countries to think twice before embracing it. Although the article provides an unsparing look at American‐style plea bargaining, it is not nearly critical enough about a practice that has fueled America’s insatiable appetite for incarceration and helped make the United States the world’s leading jailer. With just five percent of the world’s population, America has more than 25 percent of its prisoners. America has achieved those numbers by rediscovering an ancient truth well known to tyrants and dictators throughout the ages: Virtually anyone can be coerced into confessing their guilt if you apply enough pressure—even the innocent.