Credit: Getty Images.

In 2020, New York lawmakers removed the “blindfold” from criminal cases, making a change requiring prosecutors to promptly disclose evidence to the defense. Under the old system, defendants faced pressure to plead guilty without even knowing what the evidence was. And prosecutors faced little consequence if they failed to turn over evidence, including evidence of innocence.

But some leaders have recently suggested that due process is a zero-sum game, where more due process means less public safety. Instead, they should consider powerful evidence that pretrial discovery both improves public safety and saves money.

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Evidence that improving fairness can bring down crime comes from Houston, Texas. In 2016, Maranda ODonnell was arrested in Harris County, Texas, which includes the city of Houston, on a charge of driving with a suspended license to her mother’s house. ODonnell’s bail was set according to a fixed written schedule that judicial officers had to follow at the time. ODonnell lived “paycheck........

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