The Plea Jury

Laura I. Appleman, Willamette University College of Law

Abstract

This article provides a call to reform the much-criticized guilty plea process. My original proposal would incorporate the local community into the guilty plea through the use of a plea jury, thus solving a multitude of problems. In a plea jury, a lay panel of citizens would listen to the defendant's allocution and determine the acceptability of the plea and sentence, reinvigorating the community's right to determine punishment for offenders. My goal in this article is to restore the community jury right to its proper place by envisioning its integration into the guilty plea, based on recent Supreme Court decisions, punishment theory, and practical procedural concerns. In doing so, I will illustrate not only how a standard jury would be incorporated, but also why the critical norms embedded into jury participation will help improve the existing guilty plea procedure.