Plea Bargaining Institute Holds Joint Symposium with the Quattrone Center
The Plea Bargaining Institute recently convened a symposium in collaboration with the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice to discuss pressing issues in the field of plea bargaining and encourage further collaboration between academics, practitioners, policy advocacy organizations and policymakers.
The event, entitled Plea Bargaining Policies, Reforms, and Research, occurred on April 4, 2025 at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The event began with an examination of plea bargaining reform that included insights from the Hon. Stephanos Bibas, Hon. John Gleeson, Paul Heaton of the Quattrone Center, and Nina Patel of the ACLU. The day also featured a panel discussion focusing on prosecution office plea bargaining policies. Consistent with the PBI mission to make research more accessible to policymakers, advocacy organizations, and practitioners, there were two research download sessions during which attendees heard from several researchers about their current studies and findings. Finally, attendees broke into small groups during lunch where they engaged in insightful conversations about plea bargaining, their work in the field, and the future of reform.
The complete agenda is contained below.
Introductions from the Quattrone Center and the Plea Bargaining Institute
- Ross Miller, Asst. Director, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice
- Lucian Dervan, Prof., Belmont Univ. College of Law and Founding Dir., Plea Bargaining Institute
A Conversation Regarding Plea Bargaining and Plea Bargaining Reform
- Moderator: Paul Heaton, Professor of Law and Academic Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice
- Hon. Stephanos Bibas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Hon. John Gleeson, Debevoise & Plimpton
- Nina Patel, Senior Policy Counsel, ACLU
Research Data Download I
- Moderator: Lucian Dervan, Prof., Belmont Univ. College of Law and Founding Dir., Plea Bargaining Institute
- David Abrams, William B. and Mary Barb Johnson Professorship of Law and Economics, Univ. of Pennsylvania Carey Law
- Dr. Tina Zottoli, Assoc. Prof., Montclair State Univ.
- Dr. Miko Wilford, Assoc. Prof., Iowa State University
Lunch Break Out Sessions
- Participants divided into three separate groups to share lunch and discuss questions around plea bargaining policies, research, and reform.
Prosecution Plea Bargaining Office Policies
- Moderator: Amy Fettig, Acting Co-Executive Director, Fair and Just Prosecution
- Thea Johnson, Professor of Law and Assoc. Dean for Faculty Research, Rutgers Law School
- Johnathan Wroblewski, Former Dir. Of the Office of Policy and Legislation, U.S. Department of Justice
Research Data Download II
- Moderator: Ross Miller, Asst. Director, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice
- Laura Abelson, Quattrone Center Research Fellow
- Dr. Brian Johnson, Prof. and Assoc. Chair, Univ. of Maryland
- Dr. Allison Redlich, Assoc. Chair and Distinguished Univ. Prof., Georgia Mason Univ.
Brief Closing Remarks
