In April 2025, the PBI 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 below report discusses the topics addressed during the event.
