The Plea of Innocence

Tim Bakken is the first civilian promoted to Professor of Law at West Point, the United States Military Academy. He practiced law in New York City, including as a prosecutor in Brooklyn (Kings County District Attorney's office). His most recent book is The Cost of Loyalty: Dishonesty, Hubris, and Failure in the U.S. Military.

"Featuring compelling analysis and exceptional scholarship, The Plea of Innocence illustrates how the justice system can be revised to protect innocent people from conviction. Few books could be more important or timely." - Brian Levin, California State University, San Bernardino "Worthy of full consideration by legal scholars and anyone with an interest in justice for those who are innocent." - Ros Burnett, University of Oxford "A timely and important contribution. As calls for reforming the justice system increasingly enter into the public sphere, Bakken offers a compelling path forward, one that is both possible and revolutionary." - Marvin Zalman, Wayne State University "Remarkable and convincing. The book is well-written, thoroughly researched and enjoyable to read. It is a rethinking of the criminal law that everyone involved in the criminal justice system should read and contemplate." - John Hill (The Lawyer's Daily) "We can learn much by seeing our familiar world anew, from the outside. This book uses the outsider's vantage point to good effect, mixing familiar criticisms of common law adversarial process with original ideas for procedures to address those problems. Bakken's proposals would promote accurate factfinding above competing values, such as respect for privacy and defendant autonomy, favored by current doctrine." (Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books) "Bakken proposes an innovative device to move our courts in that direction: a "plea of innocence" from the defendant . . . . Bakken begins his advocacy for this creative device by describing the various ways that criminal procedure doctrine in the U.S. tolerates lies and secrecy . . . . [His] proposals would promote accurate factfinding above competing values, such as respect for privacy and defendant autonomy, favored by current doctrine." (Criminal Law and Justice Books) "The proposal is an interesting one . . . . provocative . . . . a number of strong claims . . . . valuable observations." (The Wrongful Conviction Law Review) "[Bakken] concludes that while it is improbable that all the facts in any case will ever be known, the acquisition of facts will almost always benefit an innocent person who has been accused of a crime." (Law and Social Inquiry)