The Plea is a 2004 film that tells the story about how pleas are often misused and how pervasive plea deals are. However, the supporters of plea give an argument that taking plea reduces the cost and time. Court systems will collapse if all the cases went in front of Judge or Jury. Number of people considers that this push to resolve cases jeopardizes the rights of the defendant, who may admit guilt whether they are guilty or not.
The case of Erma Faye Stewart represented in the film explains the miscarriage of justice. Erma was arrested along with other 26, because of being tipped by an informant that she is involved in a drug cartel. Cases of drugs come under felony crimes. These are most serious crimes. Sentence for these crimes are more than 10 years and in case of Erma sentence would be more than 10 years. Previous records of Erma depicted that she is a responsible woman and had never been involved in any criminal activity. She had two kids at home and there was no one else other than her that will look after them she agreed to take a plea for the crime she never committed. According to this plea, she would be on parole for 10 years. Erma lost her constitutional rights but the advantage she had was she will be at home with her kids. Which was one of the main reason for her to admit that she had committed a crime. She was essentially left destitute.
Other examples that were of similar nature were the cases of Patsy Kelly Jarret, Kerry Max Cook, and Charles Gampero Jr. In all of these cases they were not guilty but just to avoid to go to prison they have taken pleas and committed the crime they never committed. However, they did not know the consequences of taking a plea that results that until their parole they are ineligible for federal education assistance and food stamps.
