# Punishment Without Trial **URL:** **By** Carissa Byrne Hessick **Published:** January 14, 2022 --- Carissa Byrne Hessick joins Aaron and Trevor to discuss plea bargaining and explain why the practice is problematic. Carissa Byrne Hessick joins the podcast to discuss the fact that 97% of convictions in the United States every year are the result of people pleading guilty, often via a plea bargain, rather than having a trial before a jury of their peers. How did we get to a situation where the vast majority of criminal convictions come prior to any trial taking place? Further Reading: _Punishment Without Trial: Why Plea Bargaining is a Bad Deal_, written by Carissa Byrne Hessick