Plea Bargaining’s Triumph: A History of Plea Bargaining in America

Though originally an interloper in a system of justice mediated by courtroom battles, plea bargaining now dominates American criminal justice. This book traces the evolution of plea bargaining from its beginnings in the early nineteenth century to its present pervasive role. Indeed, it is difficult to name a single innovation in criminal procedure during the last 150 years that has been incompatible with plea bargaining’s progress and survived. Filling a stunning gap in the literature, Plea Bargaining’s Triumph is one of the five most important books on issues of U.S. criminal justice in the last fifty years. Despite its historical perspective, it has immense importance for modern criminal justice policy, and may be the basis for major law reforms, as the analyses are highly relevant to modern sentencing legislation and practice. The book is also highly readable and dramatic, for Fisher brings alive not only old laws and courts, but the character and characters of the law. Prosecutors, defense lawyers, sentencing judges, policymakers, and legal scholars should all read this book. - Marc L. Miller, Emory Law School; Rarely does a work of legal history speak so clearly to contemporary crisis as does George Fisher’s Plea Bargaining’s Triumph. - Candace McCoy, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University