Ros Burnett
"Worthy of full consideration by legal scholars and anyone with an interest in justice for those who are innocent."
Marvin Zalman
"A timely and important contribution. As calls for reforming the justice system increasingly enter into the public sphere, Bakken offers a compelling path forward, one that is both possible and revolutionary."
Brian Levin
"Featuring compelling analysis and exceptional scholarship, The Plea of Innocence illustrates how the justice system can be revised to protect innocent people from conviction. Few books could be more important or timely."
The Lawyer's Daily - John Hill
"Remarkable and convincing. The book is well-written, thoroughly researched and enjoyable to read. It is a rethinking of the criminal law that everyone involved in the criminal justice system should read and contemplate."
Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books
"We can learn much by seeing our familiar world anew, from the outside. This book uses the outsider’s vantage point to good effect, mixing familiar criticisms of common law adversarial process with original ideas for procedures to address those problems. Bakken’s proposals would promote accurate factfinding above competing values, such as respect for privacy and defendant autonomy, favored by current doctrine."
Criminal Law and Justice Books
"Bakken proposes an innovative device to move our courts in that direction: a “plea of innocence” from the defendant . . . . Bakken begins his advocacy for this creative device by describing the various ways that criminal procedure doctrine in the U.S. tolerates lies and secrecy . . . . [His] proposals would promote accurate factfinding above competing values, such as respect for privacy and defendant autonomy, favored by current doctrine."
The Wrongful Conviction Law Review
"The proposal is an interesting one . . . . provocative . . . . a number of strong claims . . . . valuable observations."
Library Journal
07/01/2022
Would a search for the truth fix the criminal justice system? That is the view of legal scholar Bakken (law, West Point; The Cost of Loyalty: Dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the U.S. Military). The author decries the adversarial system of American justice because it is rife with errors and tilts toward those with resources. DNA evidence, which is relatively scarce, isn't the answer. Instead, he favors a plea of innocence, after which the prosecution and defense would cooperate to find exonerating evidence. This would include a requirement that the defendant openly discuss the case. A defendant would have to make a plausible claim to such a plea. The book cites the approach of continental Europe, in which a magistrate makes an impartial review of whether a case should proceed. Some of the same points are made in Judge Jed Rakoff's Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free, a more accessible introduction to this topic. Left unsaid in the book is whether better training for police or more levels of review of proposed prosecutions would reduce false convictions. VERDICT The slim book is well written, but academic in tone. Professional audiences will appreciate this deep dive into the theory of criminal prosecutions.—Harry Charles
