Trial Penalty in Connecticut: Are People Being Punished for Exercising Their Constitutional Rights?

The Connecticut Office of Chief Public Defender embarked on an effort to study the trial penalty in its own state. It devised and distributed an innovative survey, seeking objective data from criminal defense practitioners within the state. OCPD partnered with NACDL and the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyers Association to continue this study and produce this report. It also engaged the Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy at the University of Connecticut to provide statistical analysis of the survey results and to draw conclusions driven by that data. [Released Mar 2026]

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Report cover: The Trial Penalty in Connecticut: Are People Being Punished for Exercising Their Constitutional Rights?

Learn more about NACDL’s Trial Penalty Work

News Release

New Report from Nation’s Criminal Defense Bar Highlights Widespread Coercive Plea Bargaining in Connecticut

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