Guilty pleas: History, research, and current directions.

Over the past four decades, guilty pleas have become increasingly prevalent globally (Fair Trials, 2017). Within the United States legal system, recent estimates suggest that over 95% of all criminal convictions – and in some jurisdictions, all convictions – are plea dispositions (Johnson, 2023; Wilford & Bornstein, 2023). Although the practice takes on different forms and labels (e.g., resolution discussions, cooperation agreements, abbreviated trials), guilty pleas decide most cases in many other jurisdictions as well, including Australia, Canada, England and Wales, Estonia, Georgia, Russia, and Scotland, among others (Brook et al., 2015; Fair Trials, 2017). While plea rates among adults can be suggestive of a general trend, it is difficult to estimate how these rates compare to those of juvenile defendants. The U.S. National Center for State Courts (2023) indicates that from 2017 to 2021, only 6.5%-12.3% of juvenile delinquency cases in 13 jurisdictions proceeded to a bench trial. In England and Wales in 2019, 46.9% of youth charged in juvenile (Youth) courts pleaded guilty at first appearance, and 58.4% of those charged in Crown Court eventually pleaded guilty (Evidence Based Justice Lab 2021). Thus, it appears that juvenile delinquency cases also reach plea dispositions frequently, though the rates might be lower than those of adults.