History of the Alford Plea

The Alford Plea originated in 1970 during the U.S. Supreme Court case North Carolina v. Alford.

Defendant, Henry C. Alford, was charged with first-degree murder. At the time, North Carolina's criminal justice system upheld capital punishment in cases of first-degree murder unless the jury recommended life in prison instead. With so much evidence stacking up against him, Alford's attorney advised him to plead guilty in order to get a deal and therefore avoid the death penalty.

Alford decided to plead guilty--though "disclaiming guilt"--and was sentenced to thirty years in prison for second-degree murder. When his case reached the Court of Appeals, they found that his guilty plea was involuntary because he was being motivated by a fear of capital punishment. The court then found that the judge had done nothing wrong by accepting Alford's guilty plea in court.

This court case then started a new type of plea: The Alford Plea. Like Alford, his plea means that--in the eyes of the law--the defendant is pleading guilty. However, he or she is still asserting their innocence.

Thus far, no definitive research has been done on the number of times the Alford Plea has been used in court, however, Wolf Harlow of the Department of Justice states that in just the year 2000 alone, she estimates the Alford Plea was used in approximately 67,622 cases. With so many defendants clinging to use of the Alford Plea in order to get a lesser sentencing, it comes as no surprise that this is becoming a huge problem within our criminal justice system.


Information From:
Alford Pleas in the Age of Innocence
Bloomberg LAW: North Carolina v. Alford
Cornell Law School: North Carolina v. Henry C. Alford
Justia: North Carolina v. Alford