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In Missouri v. Frye and Lafler v. Cooper, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel applies to the plea negotiation process and held that prejudicial error can flow from ineffective plea advice. The defense community has applauded these decisions for recognizing the pivotal role that guilty pleas play in our criminal justice system and for requiring a minimum level of efficacy in plea lawyering. In this brief essay, I suggest that Frye and Lafler are victories for the defense community in yet another way. The decisions reflect judicial realism, and in this respect, they are especially important cases for systemic public defense litigation. Courts confronted with these suits in the past have stymied reform efforts by approaching these suits in a formalistic way, sending plaintiffs either to seek a post-conviction remedy or legislative redress, neither of which are practical options. Frye and Lafler, because they are grounded in the reality of today's criminal justice system, may provide critical leverage to lawyers asking courts for systemic relief.

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n Lafler v. Cooper, Justice Kennedy, writing for the majority of the Supreme Court, noted that "criminal justice today is for the most part a system of pleas, not a system of trials. Ninety-seven percent of federal convictions and ninety-four percent of state convictions are the result of guilty pleas." These numbers have not been consistent: the percentage of criminal defendants opting to plead guilty has only risen over the years. A defendant who pleads guilty forgoes the possibility of being acquitted and therefore receiving no punishment. A right to trial is in part a right to seek to avoid punishment. Americans interested in the legal system and foreign legislators and lawyers should be skeptical of a system in which more than ninety percent of defendants waive their right to a trial. This post was originally published on the Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review website on October 1, 2021. The original post can be accessed via the Archived Link button above.