Plea Bargain Coercion

Yes, and also, the plea bargains on offer usually provide a huge reduction from the maximum risk from being found guilty. Not uncommon: plead guilty and pay $100 fine, or be found guilty and go to jail for up to 1 year. The guilty and the innocent alike are given as many reasons as possible to plead guilty.

In many countries you cannot plea out. Everything has to reach court, and I as living in one of these countries think is a good think. This prevents extortion and bullying by prosecutors. Your sentence should not depend on your skills at negotiation and knowledge of judicial processes.

I think what goes on in plea bargains is more of an issue. If I am arrested for a minor crime and the prosecutor decides to pile on dozens of parallel charges such that I am now facing 50 years to life if convicted, but offers me 3 month if I plead guilty, then no matter how innocent I am I am going to take the plea. Unless you can prove beyond reasonable doubt that you are innocent what rational person can afford to take the risk of going to trial.

I think there may be a case of plea bargaining behind that, assuming it's true. Many prosecutors like to offer suspects the option of pleading to a minor crime with minor punishment versus going to trial for a more serious crime.In the ideal case, if the suspect is actually guilty, they save the prosecutors office time and money in actually preparing the case for trial, and the defendant gets a lesser punishment and doesn't spend their money on a trial defense either.In the less

The default sentence depends on the charges, charges depend on the persecutor, which are motivated to increase those to get the easier deal of a plea bargain, so it is exactly the much higher cost of a trial and a higher risk of a more severe sentence that is the selling point for the accused if you don't look at it backwards

Of course it is, it's called "plea bargain" - defendants choose between pleading guilty for a pre-arranged punishment or the DA putting up a boatload of charges with the expected punishment excessively above the plea deal [1].[1]: https://innocenceproject.org/guilty-pleas-on-the-rise-crimin...

Not a surprise, given 90-95% of cases end in a plea bargain [1]. Most defendants (even innocent ones) would rather give in to the threats of prosecutors and accept a guaranteed lower sentence than risk a much harsher one in trial [2].So yeah, you have to have a really strong conviction your case will stand in court to reject a plea deal and try your odds in trial.IMO, the system is made to be fair at the surface level, but it's utterly broken when you consider second-order cons

The system is set up to push people toward plea bargains. Even an innocent person charged with first degree murder and facing 25 to life would consider a plea of involuntary manslaughter with a sentence as short as 3 years. Over 90% of trials in the US end in a plea bargain...I wonder how many people take a plea when they are innocent.

For many people, even if completely innocent, a plea deal is a smarter choice than going to trial. So at the very least they are guilty of taking a plea deal. Possibly something more, but that can't be inferred.

Not correct; another reason the deals are made is to save the state the cost of a trial. And if they won't give you a deal, go to trial and get some expert witnesses to say it was impossible to tell that it was you. The government has to prove you guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and get 12 random people on the street to agree. That's risky. Hence plea bargains.