What's Wrong with Sentencing Equality? Sentencing Legality: A Response to Professors Bierschbach & Bibas
In 2005, I was a public defender in Bronx County, New York. Contemplating a transition to academia, I developed an idea for an article about plea-bargaining and innocence.[1] Early on, I came across a tremendously helpful paper, written by Professor Stephanos Bibas.[2] Several months later, I began a teaching fellowship. On the first day, I was pleased to find Bibas’s name on the office door next to mine. Unfortunately, Bibas had already left for another institution. Our paths seemed destined not to cross. Still, I took a chance and emailed him. Bibas responded with warm words and constructive advice. Over the next decade, our relationship would become one of the most valuable of my professional career. His generosity is unparalleled, and my scholarship is demonstrably better for it. Sometimes we disagree, though perhaps less so recently (which only speaks to the great influence he has had on my thinking).