# Multimedia 

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Events • August 3, 2020 

# The Vanishing Trial 

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.

[![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/). 

##### Featuring 

![k-ring-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-06/k-ring-cropped.jpg?itok=R5frWK10) 

##### Kevin Ring 

President of FAMM

##### Danny Markus 

[![Clark Neily](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Clark%20Neily.jpg?itok=kOJs7hwY)](/people/clark-neily) 

##### [Clark Neily](/people/clark-neily)

Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/conlawwarrior) [ 

](mailto:cneily@cato.org)