U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) on Wednesday introduced the bipartisan Right to Trial Act with her colleagues Reps. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), and David Trone (D-Md.). This legislation would strengthen the constitutional right to trial and mitigate abuses of prosecutorial authority in the federal justice system.
Spartz
“Our Founding Fathers provided for trial by jury in our Constitution as a safeguard of our liberties,” Rep. Spartz said. “This constitutional right is essential to protect against the tyranny of government and the police state.”
Approximately 97 percent of defendants subject to federal charges plead guilty, up from nearly 85 percent in the early 1990s. Despite their constitutional right to trial, defendants face steep mandatory minimum sentences if they choose to exercise this right – driving defendants into one-sided plea negotiations.
“Throughout my time as a district judge, I saw the extreme disparities between sentences offered in plea deals and sentences given to those who went to trial,” Rep. Reschenthaler said. “Americans shouldn’t face drastically different judicial outcomes when exercising their constitutional rights. The Right to Trial Act will address the trial penalty sentencing disparity and ensure our judicial system reflects the spirit of the Sixth Amendment.”
The Right to Trial Act seeks to temper these incentives by granting federal courts the authority to impose sentences, in some circumstances, below established statutory minimums.