Federal Authorities Have Too Much Power to Force Defendants to Plead Guilty

Federal prosecutors have any number of tools at their disposal to force a defendant in a federal case to plead guilty.  Prosecutors can manipulate the sentencing guidelines and charging decisions to create a situation whereby the risk of going to trial is far outweighed by the plea bargain that is offered.  The link below is an excellent Op-Ed piece demonstrating this point.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2011/03/12/tipping_the_scales_of_justice/