Live Online Policy Forum # *The Vanishing Trial* ##### Watch the Event Download: [ Video ](https://fastly-unsigned-us-east-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/6039378657001/bc39be2e-4527-43e3-a55f-1fdc01adc61f/8596cd21-cc13-4eec-a462-3f662219eb79/main.mp4) Join the conversation on X using [\#CatoCJ](https://x.com/hashtag/CatoCJ). Follow [@CatoInstitute](https://x.com/catoinstitute) on X to get future event updates, live streams, and videos from the Cato Institute. Date and Time August 3, 2020 12 - 1:15 PM EDT Location Live Online Share This Event ##### Featuring Featuring **Rachel E. Barkow ([@rachelbarkow](https://www.twitter.com/rachelbarkow))**, Faculty Director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, New York University; **David Markus ([@domarkus](https://www.twitter.com/domarkus))**, Criminal Trial & Appellate Lawyer, Markus/​Moss; and **Kevin Ring ([@KevinARing](https://www.twitter.com/KevinARing))**, President, FAMM; moderated by **Clark Neily ([@ConLawWarrior](https://www.twitter.com/ConLawWarrior))**, Vice President for Criminal Justice, Cato Institute. Over the past several decades, America’s criminal justice system has moved dangerously close to a “point and convict” process of adjudication as trials have been all but replaced by plea bargaining. As a result, 95 percent of all criminal convictions today are obtained not through constitutionally prescribed public jury trials but through an often astonishingly coercive process of inducing defendants to forego their right to a trial and simply condemn themselves instead. Directed and produced by Emmy-nominated Wynette Yao, *The Vanishing Trial* follows four individuals forced to make the excruciating choice of either pleading guilty to a crime they did not commit in exchange for a shorter sentence or going to trial and risking decades behind bars. Throughout the film, we hear from leading experts about how this so-called trial penalty has effectively abrogated one of our most hallowed constitutional rights and helped fuel mass incarceration. This online event will feature a panel discussion followed by a question-and-answer session with the audience. Participants are encouraged to watch *The Vanishing Trial* before the panel discussion and will receive a link and password upon registering for the event so they can watch the 40-minute film online. ![The Vanishing Trial Poster](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/2020-07/the-vanishing-trial-poster.png?itok=-q3UEj1Q) **Register for the event to receive a link and password to watch *The Vanishing Trial*.** [![Register](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/4957480/bbc5cad7-d3de-4c56-828a-8a9679cf2b60.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/4957480/bbc5cad7-d3de-4c56-828a-8a9679cf2b60) hbspt.cta.load(4957480, 'bbc5cad7-d3de-4c56-828a-8a9679cf2b60', {}); ### Additional Materials - [The Trial Penalty: The Sixth Amendment Right to Trial on the Verge of Extinction and How to Save It](https://www.nacdl.org/Document/TrialPenaltySixthAmendmentRighttoTrialNearExtinct) - [Prisons Are Packed because Prosecutors Are Coercing Plea Deals. And, Yes, It’s Totally Legal.](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/prisons-are-packed-because-prosecutors-are-coercing-plea-deals-yes-its) - [*The Vanishing Trial* Official Page](https://famm.org/vanishingtrial/) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).