The abstract for Professor Traum's article provides: "The Supreme Court’s 2012 decisions in Lafler v. Cooper and Frye v. Missouri lay the groundwork for a new approach to judicial regulation of guilty pleas that considers outcomes. These cases confirm that courts enjoy robust authority to protect defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to effective counsel and that plea outcomes are particularly relevant to identifying and remedying prejudicial ineffective assistance in plea bargaining. The Court’s reliance on outcome-based prejudice analysis and suggestions for trial court level reforms to prevent Sixth Amendment violations set the stage for trial courts to take a more active, substantive role in regulating guilty pleas. This Article traces these significant doctrinal shifts and argues that they supply both impetus and authority for trial courts to regulate guilty pleas by monitoring plea outcomes. This proposal builds on market-based concepts while strengthening the judicial role in safeguarding constitutional values. By monitoring outcomes, courts can detect and correct factors in the plea market, like prosecutorial overreaching and deficient counsel, which can distort the parties’ ability to negotiate fair results. Outcomes monitoring is justified for practical reasons because it builds on courts’ expertise and unique place in the plea markets, it can be implemented at the trial court level, it reinforces courts’ traditional sentencing authority, and it can prevent litigation of prejudicial ineffective assistance in post-conviction proceedings."
Professor Traum's Florida Law Review article follows three other Traum articles recently placed in Hastings Law Journal, Cardozo Law Review, and Maryland Law Review. See Anne R. Traum, Mass Incarceration at Sentencing, 64 Hastings L.J. 423 (2013); Anne R. Traum, Constitutionalizing Immigration Law on Its Own Path, 33 Cardozo L. Rev. 491 (2011); and Anne R. Traum, Last Best Chance for the Great Writ: Equitable Tolling and Federal Habeas Corpus, 68 Md. L. Rev. 545 (2009)).
Congratulations, Anne!
