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67 Vand. L. Rev. 1099 (2014)
In Defense of American Criminal Justice

handle is hein.journals/vanlr67 and id is 1133 raw text is: ESSAY In Defense of American Criminal Justice Hon. J. Harvie Wilkinson 111* I. INTRODUCTION ....................................... 1099 II. THE INDICTMENT.. ................................... 1101 III. A DEFENSE OF AMERICAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE ....... .... 1108 A. The Inevitability of Tradeoffs: Wrongful Convictions ........................ ..... 1108 B. Tradeoffs in Criminal Adjudication: The Right to Counsel ......................... ..... 1119 C. Prosecutorial Discretion: The Overlooked Benefits ................................... 1129 D. Plea Bargaining: The Pluses .................. 1138 IV. THE DEMOCRATIC VIRTUES OF OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM............................................. 1145 A. Democratic Control over Crime and Punishment ................................ 1145 B. Democratic Input Through the Criminal Jury ..... 1157 C. Democratic Accountability in State Judiciaries.... 1165 V. CONCLUSION ......................................... 1168 I. INTRODUCTION The American criminal justice system is on trial. A chorus of commentators-often but not exclusively in the legal academy-has leveled a sharp indictment of criminal process in our country. The * Judge Wilkinson serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 1099