Racial Disparities Are Affecting Public Defenders

Public defenders tend to plead guilty at a somewhat higher rate than clients of privately retained lawyers. Racial disparities may be affecting minorities more, so have they contributed to an increase in plea bargaining and allw i haven't specifically seen that suggesting any one racial group plead bargains more than any other. Back in the 19 twenties, when suddenly, on the federal side of our system, there was a big spike in the criminal case load. And therefore, we see a development of the plea bargaining process.