The National Constitution Center inspires active citizenship as the only place in these polarized times

where people across America and around the world can come together to learn about, debate, and celebrate the greatest

vision of human freedom in history, the U.S. Constitution.

Please support us by becoming a member and learn more at

Constitution center.org.

I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center,

and welcome to the latest of our We the People Constitutional Podcast.

The National Constitution Center is the only institution in America chartered by Congress

to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a non-partisan basis and this month we're issuing a series

of podcasts that are jumping off some great panels that I participated in this summer

at the Aspen Ideas Festival and here at the wonderful National Constitution Center in

Philadelphia. Up next, why the innocent plead guilty?

Thank you so much ladies and gentlemen for braving the rain in your hunger for constitutional education and illumination

You've picked a great afternoon because we have a blockbuster group of two of the most thoughtful

federal judges in the US debating one of the most important questions of criminal justice in our time, namely is the

sentencing system broken and why do innocent people plead guilty? This is an exciting time as always for the National Constitution

Center, which is, as one or two of you have heard, the only institution in America

chartered by Congress to disseminate information about the US Constitution on a non-partisan basis.

And it is exciting in these polarized times that we are able to bring together the most thoughtful

voices from all sides of the spectrum to debate not political issues

but constitutional issues so that people can make up their own mind.

We've got a phenomenal series coming up in the fall of our role as America's Town Hall.

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