Shortly before midnight on Monday, September 21, 2000 three masked man broke into the home of Walter Bowman. The men wore gloves and had their faces covered with bandannas. Walter Bowman heard a lot of noise outside of his room, opened the door and saw the robbers. He quickly shut the door.
One of the intruders fired his gun at the bedroom door and kicked it open. “I shot him, I shot him!” he cried. The men fled the house and Walter Bowman died before he could get to a hospital.
A crime-stoppers tip led the police to investigate three men, Robert Rutherford, Bradford Summey, and Lacy “J.J.” Pickens, but the police determined that Pickens couldn’t have committed the crime because he was already in police custody at the time of the murder. So they dropped their investigation into all three men.
The police investigated other tips and eventually arrested Robert Wilcoxson and five other men. Facing the threat of the death penalty if convicted, Wilcoxson pled guilty and was sentenced to 15 years and 9 months in prison.
After serving nine years in prison, Robert Wilcoxson was finally found innocent.
What the police didn’t realize was that Lacy Pickens was confined on weekends, but free on work release during the week. In 2003 Robert Rutherford admitted that he, Summey and Pickens committed the crimes. Four years later DNA evidence matched Summey’s bandanna and investigators realized that the getaway car – a 1971 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme – was the same one that Pickens had owned at the time.
In 2011, after serving nine years in prison, Robert Wilcoxson was finally found innocent.
Confessing to a Crime He Didn’t Commit
The Economist (“A deal you can’t refuse,” Nov, 2017) notes that the use of plea-bargaining, the practice of having suspects confess to a crime in exchange for a reduced sentence, is rising in justice systems all over the world. In 1990 a study of 90 countries found that 19 used plea-bargains; today 66 countries do. In America it is used all the time. Fewer than 3% of federal defendants stand trial; most take plea-bargains.
Plea-bargaining became popular during the Prohibition era when there was such a steep increase in the number of criminal offenses that the courts didn’t have the manpower to bring them all to trial. Plea-bargaining is supposed to persuade guilty people to confess; it’s not supposed to create false confessions. Why would an innocent person plead guilty? Why did Robert Wilcoxson confess to a crime he didn’t commit?
According to Jewish law, an accused person is not allowed to testify against himself. If America courts followed the Torah’s laws, a suspect’s confession, “I killed him,” could not be used against him. Nor could they threaten him with the death penalty or promise him a short jail sentence in return for a confession.
Maimonides (12th century) suggested a reason behind this Torah law. A person accused of a crime is in a very vulnerable state – they may become depressed, even suicidal, and admit to a crime just to get it all over with (Mishnah Torah, Sanhedrin 18:6) . And Rabbi Yosef Ibn Migash (11-12th centuries) wrote that if confessions were admissible as evidence, the courts would be overly influenced by it and not pay attention to other important evidence that might prove his innocence (Menachem Elon (ed.), The Principles of Jewish Law (1975), at 614).
Of the 149 Americans cleared of crimes in 2015, 65 had pled guilty.
Today, modern psychologists are demonstrating what these Rabbis from the middle-ages knew all along. In 2013, Lucian Dervan, a law professor at the Belmont University College of Law, and Vanessa Edkins, a psychologist at the Florida Institute of Technology, created an experiment to see if guilty people were more likely to confess than innocent ones. They asked students to solve logic problems, first in a team, and then on their own. When they were supposed to be working alone they had researchers ask half of them for help, which was technically “cheating.” Afterwards, all the students were accused of cheating and offered a plea-bargain to avoid punishments, such as losing payment for participation or having their supervisors notified. Nearly 90% of the “cheaters” confessed, but so did most of those who were innocent.
In real life cases, this has been the case as well. Of the 149 Americans cleared of crimes in 2015, 65 had pled guilty.
Changing the System
Will the American Justice system take a page from Jewish law and get rid of the plea-bargain? It’s not as crazy as it sounds. In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled that all criminal suspects have to be instructed that they have the right to remain silent and that anything they say can and will be used against them in a court of law. In explaining his agreement with the ruling, Chief Justice Warren observed that the “roots” [of the privilege against self-incrimination] go back to ancient times,” and in the footnote he quotes Maimonides that, “the admission that no man is to be declared guilty on his own admission is a divine decree.”
There are many other ways that Jewish law could help reform the criminal justice system as well, such as:
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Using more creative punishments: In America today there are over 2 million people in jail. Jail is the punishment given uniformly to everyone from petty thieves to mass murderers. In Jewish law, there’s a more creative range of penalties. For example, instead of sending a thief to jail, he has to pay double what he stole. So if he stole 100 dollars he would have to pay his victim 200 dollars. In this way, what he planned to take away from someone else is taken away from him instead. After paying what he owes he can go back to being a productive member of society.
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Reducing the death penalty: So far this year the death penalty was used 23 times. While the Torah allows the death penalty in extreme circumstances, it greatly discourages its use. The Talmud states that a court that executes someone once every 70 years is considered blood-thirsty. The Torah also states that “You shall not eat over the blood,” which Rashi (a 10th century scholar) says means that a court must fast on the day it pronounces a death sentence. A jury that has to fast before rendering a death-penalty verdict would probably approach the decision with the right amount of gravitas.
Perhaps the biggest lesson that the American justice system can learn from the Torah is that every person is created in the image of God. The courts systems are busy and over-worked, and it’s easy to see a criminal suspect as just another cog in the machine. But we must remember that no matter how far a person has fallen they still have a divine soul. As the Torah commands, “You shall not pervert judgment… nor take a bribe; for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous. Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deut. 16:18-20).
(12) Avraham Keslinger, October 14, 2018 5:32 PM
Jewish law and Criminal Law
The inadmissibility of confessions only applies to a rabbinical court. In Halacha there is also a parallel secular system (Rambam calls it the "King's justice") where they are admissible. Thus King David accepted the Amalekite ger's confesion and ordered him executed (Shmuel Bet ch. 1).
As for the statement about a "bloody Sanhedrin", Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says that the approach of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon would multiply murderers.
Rav Moshe Feinstein wrote in a letter to then NY Gov. Hugh Carey that in the case of a person who murders due to disregard for the sin or if there is a wave of murders the authorities must impose the death penalty in order to protect society (Iggerot Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 2:68).
(11) Bobby5000, January 6, 2018 7:37 PM
Problems with the legal system
There are other serious problems with the legal system,
1. Appeal
One of the most prevalent misconceptions is that appeals help address wrongful convictions. They do not. Instead the primary work with appeal involves technicalities that do not deal with guilt or innocence and instead which guilty criminal will get off because of a procedural error. Review of the merits is sadly quite difficult. You are innocent?- the jury determines the fact and they found you guilty.
2. Choice of arrest, investigation, and prosecution
Police in many areas are well-paid, and they and teachers receive generous pensions, and citizens complain about high taxes in the east. Thus, a primary goal for towns and police is securing revenue, and that means minor fee-gathering offenses get more attention than serious time-consuming cases.
Cops in Smithville spend hours looking for expired license plates and other offenses having little to do with public safety. Sadly however, when a woman is being stalked the response may be no investigation is done because little money can be generated. Marijuana arrests are common because the system works quickly and many offenders will pay substantial fines. Computer frauds generated oversea which cause profound harm are rarely investigated because that takes time. Towns refer victims to the state who refer them to the FBI which creates a file but does little because of limited resources.
(10) Anonymous, December 25, 2017 7:14 AM
Very interesting article
This subject was totally new to me and I found the article most interesting
(9) Anonymous, December 22, 2017 2:17 PM
Israel had a system of prisons
Lori Holzman may be surprised as I was to discover Israel did have a system of prisons. Mot all prisoners were fed the same either- It depended on their crime. No one got away with murder.I would encourage Aish to have one of your wonderful rabbis who are fluent in talmud- discuss the issue- as well as to comment on LorI Holzman's article. I found some of the reader's comments wonderful- not the ones that gave their opinions/feelings- but the oned that gave information.
(8) Virginia McCorkle, December 21, 2017 9:13 PM
what about the freedom that comes only from taking responsibility for one's actions?
My very small understanding of teshuvah, other study & my own experience of the truth w/in me is that only by taking responsibility for my actions, & willingness to be accountable is there freedom. While I agree that plea bargaining is vastly mis-used AND that a confession cannot be used against someone in law, I believe in processes that don't judge/condemn individuals & understand that correction is needed. This may not be available in all areas &/or in certain cases. There is a great propensity among prosecutors to "win at all costs" which is more prevalent when they're elected; similarly, defense counsel who suborn testimony, intentionally mis-lead &/or confuse evidence, also lose sight of what is important. My point is that there is far less integrity & honor within the legal profession than in the past; to expect defendants to possess what lawyers & judges do not is not reasonable. Yet when innocent people are convicted, sentenced to death & at times, put to death on false or misleading evidence, testimony, it becomes safer to choose imprisonment & pray for new evidence than not.
Restorative justice [especially as done in Canada, Australia, NZ] is congruent w/teshuvah by my humble, simplistic reading. I'd appreciate other opinions, feedback, provided it's respectful.
Thank you--Shalom--
Virginia McCorkle
Anonymous, December 23, 2017 5:20 AM
Re; integrity and honor
It is painful to hear you say "there is far less integrity and honor within the legal profession than in the past." As I said in my last comment, I have been a judge for 28 years, and I also am an adjunct law professor. I am proud of my and my colleagues' reputation for integrity. We have very strict ethical canons for judges and lawyers, and if anyone is accused of violating them, they are subjected to discipline, including possible removal from the bench for judges, and disbarment for attorneys. When notorious stories of misconduct are publicized, some people generalize and believe everyone in the profession must be corrupt. That's why I strongly encourage jury service--it's a wonderful education.
(7) Anonymous, December 21, 2017 9:05 PM
Misconceptions about plea bargaining
As a former prosecutor and current sitting judge for 28 years, I am saddened that this author has so many misconceptions about the concept of plea bargaining. In the typical plea agreement, a defendant must express, either orally or in writing, the factual basis for the plea. There are cases where there might be a reasonable doubt about the level of culpability (e.g., felony assault v. simple assault, first degree v. second degree murder, etc.). A negotiated plea might give such a defendant the benefit of the lesser punishment, while allowing the prosecution to avoid trial and subjecting victims and witnesses to the painful experience of testifying. In such cases, everyone walks away with a sense that justice has been done. I know of no judge, nor of any attorney, that would participate in a plea agreement knowing the defendant is the wrong person. Citing the rare miscarriages of justice the author refers to misleads readers into thinking that it's typical, when, in fact, in most cases, the plea bargaining system works wonderfully for the public, the prosecution, and the defendant
(6) Avraham Keslinger, December 21, 2017 5:41 PM
death penalty in Jewish law
These restrictions only apply to a bet din. The secular authorities have the right and duty to punish offenders according to the standards of proof that they deem proper. In fact, David HaMelech ordered the ger Amaleki executed on his own confession alone (Shmuel Bet 1:14). Rambam even allows executions on circumstantial evidence (Guide 3:40).
For a discussion of this issue so far as non-Jewish courts are concerned see Rabbi J. David Bleich's article "Capital Punishment in Noahide Law" in volume two of "Contemporary Halachic Problems".
(5) Bob Van Wagner, December 21, 2017 4:06 PM
NYC District Attorney Frank S. Hogan
The legendary DA Hogan was the exemplar of this practice. And in fact, it practice it is more complicated. Not a good thing as the very good article by good woman Holtzman lays out, but in reality, a bad practice that was an accommodation to the mix of bad forces and customs of the era.
(4) Shelley, December 20, 2017 7:55 PM
Yes, you are looking at Torah Law but Noahide Law is actually different
There are opinions that Noahide courts can put a petty thief to the death penalty for even stealing a penny, and they they can confess to the crime and be taken as evidence. Of course Noahide courts do not have to go that extreme but this rabbinical opinion is still there,
(3) Mike, December 20, 2017 1:39 PM
an important article
we definitely more awareness of these issues
(2) Johnathan, December 20, 2017 12:17 AM
Fascinating!
It is interesting to think how much better our society would be on this issue if it took more inspiration from the Torah.
(1) Anonymous, December 18, 2017 8:24 PM
Another concept to add from Torah law
I would also add the concept of "k'asher zamam", the idea that a false witness would be punished with the same punishment that the (innocent) suspect would have received if he had been convicted.