The Most Coercive Abuse of Power in the Criminal Justice System? | Rebuttal Podcast

Today, 98% of all federal criminal cases are resolved with a guilty plea. Why? "Half a loaf is better than none. . . . When we have a weak case for any reason, we'll reduce to almost anything rather than lose." In modern America, "beyond a reasonable doubt" as determined by a jury has largely been replaced by the discretion of prosecutors to punish defendants for exercising their constitutional right to a trial by jury. So much so, defendants in pretrial detention are agreeing to plea "bargains" at a rate so high, it’s hard to deny the obvious: Innocence is irrelevant. Reb is joined by Hannah Bogen, a Federal Public Defender in the Office of the FPD for the Central District of California, the largest public defense office in the federal system. Hannah shares her firsthand experience with indigent defense, pretrial detention, plea bargaining, and sentencing policy — a rare glimpse into the real lives of her clients in the federal criminal system, and the public defenders' enduring fight for dignity and mercy for the people whom society often forgets... Until it happens to you. DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions discussed in this episode are personal to Hannah and Reb and do not reflect the views or opinions of the Office of the Federal Public Defender. A huge thank you to Hannah Bogen for her time and unforgettable insight for this episode, and a gracious nod to the Offices of the Federal Public Defender in Los Angeles and around the country. Their attorneys, staff, and investigators are selfless bright sparks in a system shrouded by darkness. *Helpful resources, information, and statistics are linked in the show notes of this episode on Apple and Spotify:* Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Bgp... (The links are too long for YouTube's character limit.) *** MERCH STORE IS LIVE! Shop Reb Masel and Rebuttal Pod merch: https://rebmasel.shop/ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠PREORDER Reb's book: The Book They Throw At You—A Sarcastic Lawyer's Guide* To The Unholy Chaos of Our Legal System, *God No, Not Actual Legal Advice: https://www.simonandschuster.com/book... *** Follow @RebuttalPod on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   / rebuttalpod   https://x.com/rebuttalpod Follow @Rebmasel on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠!   / rebmasel     / rebmasel   https://x.com/rebmasel 00:00 - How America convicts the innocent 04:14 - WELCOME! Hannah Bogen, Federal Public Defender 05:26 - A mantra for public defenders 06:06 - *DISCLAIMER* 06:22 - Typical crimes Hannah sees in federal court 07:40 - WHAT DO FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDERS DO? 10:35 - "We're not gonna get there in time..." 12:46 - Favorite thing a client has said to you 16:05 - REPRESENTING VICTIMS IN THE SYSTEM 19:25 - "Prosecutor won't even make eye contact" 20:42 - ARRESTED IN PAJAMAS: Now what? 26:22 - Poverty and prison 29:30 - Trump's new prosecution policies 34:25 - "THE PURPOSE IS CRUELTY" 36:13 - Drugs and Mandatory Minimums 41:15 - THE PROBLEM WITH PLEA "BARGAINS" 45:38 - Plead or Suffer (Trial Penalty) 49:30 - 10,000 attorneys leave Trump's DOJ since 2025 53:25 - Former FPD Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson! 55:44 - BEST DAYS ON THE JOB 1:00:53 - Final thoughts for Rebuttal listener