Dear FRONTLINE,

I was shocked and sickened by Erma Stewart's case. If anyone needed help from an educated professional it was her. Yet, apparently, all she received was advice intended to expedite the process in order to collect a fine without explaining the future consequences of a guilty plea.

I don't have the resources to fix the system. But, I can help Erma by sending a check so that she can begin salvage her life.

Also, I would think that the judge in this case has the power to excuse the fine. How can anyone justify continuing to punish Erma when the other defendants had their cases dropped for lack of evidence?

Please write your representatives in Erma's support. She needs your help.

Mike Otis
Riverside, California

Dear FRONTLINE,

I also sent money to Erma Fay Stewart. I included a stamp addressed return envelope to have her let me know what she needs. We can send clothing, food, etc as well.
I am going to try to make Oprah Winfrey aware of hers and Regina Kelly's plight. Everyone concerned should try to contact Oprah, it is hard to get through to her Angel Network. Maybe if enough of us try to contact her she will find out about these two unbelievably unfortunate women.

My daughter teaches in Harlem, NY and not ONE day goes by that she doesn't have a heart breaking story to tell me about one of her students or their friends and family. We have forgotten so many of our fellow Americans, it makes me cry.

Susan Josephs
Bethel, CT

Dear FRONTLINE,

While watching the "The Plea", about how supposedly "biased" our court system is, I couldn't help but think how "biased" was this presentation. Any viewer would walk away with the impression the courts only convict innocent people, all prosocuters are bad. All that was missing was the white and black hats.

In the case of Patsy Kelly Jarrett, there was no mention what Billy Ronald Kelly testomony even though they were tried together. Did he say she was involved? A much more important fact than now she's found religion which was mentioned several times.

Roger Servick
Pasadena, CA

Dear FRONTLINE,

To say ìThe Pleaî was a grossly biased misrepresentation of the criminal justice system is a vast understatement. I noticed that the ìexpertsî railing against the system were almost exclusively employed at elite northeastern law schools. The only individuals interviewed who supported the system were the judge in the Gampero case and the District Attorney from a tiny town in west Texas.

As an Assistant District Attorney in East Baton Rouge Parish, I have been in the trenches for a number of years and have taken hundreds of pleas. Without ìpleas,î the system would break down under the sheer number of criminal cases. But furthermore, these cases you highlight are exceptions. Every case that is prosecuted must be done so in good faith. The District Attorneys and Assistants all over the country are dedicated and skilled attorneys. No ethical prosecutor would ever prosecute a crime for which he or she was not convinced of the guilt of the offender.

Your program did an extremely poor job of showing both sides of the issue. Why were none of the ìexpertsî interviewed proponents of the system? Why werenít top U.S. Attorneys and DAís from large cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or Miami) contacted and interviewed? Why not interview convicts who pled to greatly reduced sentences because of evidentiary problems, who readily admit that they got a good deal?

To insinuate that Gampero was ìcoercedî into pleading guilty is disingenuous. Gampero had three choices: (1) take the deal for 7-21 years, (2) go to trial and be exonerated and go home, (3) go to trial, get convicted, get 25 to life. Where is the coercion? THE DEFENDANT IS IN THE BEST POSITION TO KNOW THE FACTS OF THE CASE. He knows more than anyone else what happened at the crime scene. Furthermore, the defense is entitled to know about a great deal of the stateís case before trial. This is called DISCOVERY. I never heard the term mentioned ONCE in the entire program. DISCOVERY will allow a defendant to peak at the stateís case and make an informed decision. There is no coercion involved.

Finally, on a personal note, I will relate a one of my cases that went to trial. The defendant was accused of raping his 12 year old step daughter. The defendantís DNA was found inside of the victim. He was convicted at trial. To this day, HE STILL MAINTAINS HIS INNOCENCE. So it does not surprise me at all that the convicts on the show maintain their innocence. They can always fall back on, ìI had to take the deal, even though I was innocent.î

Jeff Traylor
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Dear FRONTLINE,

The PLEA was again one of your superb excellent programs. In future programs can you suggest some action citizens can take to fight and change the system. Helping Erma is praiseworthy - but it just reimburses or supports they money hungry court sytem. How can we prevent future Erma's? How can we prevent future false drug raids?

lee Kleiss
Burnsville, North Carolina

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you very much for a very eye-opening documentary. Like many people, I have always believed the American justice system to be fair and impartial, and that anyone is innocent until proven guilty. Recent shows on PBS and also on the few commercial stations that are still daring to have a different opinion from the prevalent remorselessness, are teaching me otherwise.

For-profit entities, such as the ones handling paroles or manage prisons must not benefit from the personal tragedies of the convicted nor should the courts be treated like a profit center of the state! A prison must not be allowed to strive for maximum occupancy, like a hotel would, nor calculate that some inmates bring in more money to the county than do others (case in point is another, recent PBS broadcast on INS detainees in the US in which one county prison official clearly stated how much each type of prisoner was ìworthî). This amounts to nothing less, but a perversion of the law and ethics.

This entire notion of a judiciary industry is alarming. It appears that only if an accused has enough money to pay for attorneys, private investigators, treatments indicating willingness to change, etc., will s/he get a fair trial. Just take a look how long the trials of prominent people currently in the courts take!

It also appears that rehabilitation is made as difficult as possible. Why not allow a person, after s/he has served time, to rehabilitate? Without any public assistance to re-integrate a person into society, is that person not set up to fail again and again? To reiterate: The for-profit mind set is not desirable; retaining ìcustomersî is not the objective!

A society as a whole needs to be judged on how it treats its weakest members, which includes people accused of a crime and convicts.

R. MacLean

Dear FRONTLINE,

"The Plea" was a powerful documentary. It seems as if our justice system in America is truly broken. To me it is very distrubing to experience the pain and suffering of those individuals who where in fact wrongly accused and where forced to plead "guilty".
Our system is corupt where legal thugs rule the day with fear & intimidation. Money and profits mean more to local goverment than the citizens they serve.

It favors the wealthly and those with little to no income haven't a chance. My wife and I were most touched by Erma Faye Stewart and Regina Kelly and are moved to help them in their plight. Thank you for sharing this information and let me know whom I can right or support to get this problem corrected.

Howard Dinet
Mesa, AZ

Dear FRONTLINE,

The Frontline episode entitled The Plea has exposed the American criminal justice system for just what it is, a calloused and abusive conviction mill. What is happening in America today, through the actions of the State and Federal courts, can be compared to the Great Terror of 1937 in the U.S.S.R. under Stalin. Although the Terror of 1937 was brutal and orchestrated by a group of psychopaths, it resulted in the imprisonment or deaths of many millions, and it was based on a quota system, backed by forced confessions, threats to family members, and corrupt trials of the victims.

In 21st century America much the same thing is occurring. Instead of wholesale executions as in 1937 Stalinist Russia, we are instead warehousing large segments of our "unwanted" population, as our politicians criminalize more and more behavior with every legislative session. The United States has the largest population of inmates per capita than any other country in the world. And yet we still fantasize about calling our country the "land of the free". Are the citizens of our country more criminal now than at any time in the past? Or has a tyrannical and corrupt legal system been let loose against the citizens of this country?

Richard Charitat
Houston, Texas

Dear FRONTLINE,

"The Plea Bargain" frightened me. How would any of us act when faced with the terrifying court system and loss of freedom? Who would come to our defense with adequate resources to fully expose the truth?

Justice is not achieved by meeting quotas for convictions nor by admitting to someone else's crime. Is there a better answer?

Valerie Spisak
Mobile, Alabama

Dear FRONTLINE,

I always look forward to FRONTLINE and tonight's program troubled me as much as any who have commented here. Is the "justice system" immune from reporting like this? They are certainly insulated to the point of not responding, let alone being accountable.

Yet I expected you to approach the plea-bargain problem from another angle. Our courts are so eager to get on to the next case that just as many serious offenders are getting off with a slap on the hand. Even though this program would be much more difficult to produce, I request that you give equal time to this different perspective. Maybe also find out about opportunities for lay citizens like me to volunteer and take some of the incredible burden off of the "legal professionals."

Thank you all for the dignified way you expose truth ignored by our mainstream pop-media. We all really need to band together and raise some hell!

Graham Lewis
Eugene, OR

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for 'Pleas'. It was long overdue.

Please follow up with plea bargains in misdemeanor cases. While technically not 'a plea bargain' according to the prosecutors definition, the combination of enticements and coersion result in crime being encouraged,disrespect being taught as well as a major force for maintaining and strengthening gangs.

As long as the major consideration of the justice system is to keep the prosecutors numbers as high as possible, justice will be denied crime victims, the guilty and the innocent.

Robert Bennett
Reno, NV

Dear FRONTLINE,

I must say that I was STUNNED to see the stories of the two black women from Hearne, Texas. While watching on tonight, I couldn't help but recall the sickening cases of the people of Tulia, Texas and how there was a gross miscarriage of justice there as well. It is just so sad!

I am the mother of a teenage son. And as you know most teenage kids have dreams of playing football or basketball and they love to idolize their favorite stars. But as of this day, I will continue to encourage my teenage son to persue a career in LAW because there is a greater need for competant and compassionate attorneys to help those poor and innnocent people. Even Magic Johnson has said that there is a greater need for more professional black lawyers, doctors, etc. I agree.

I will continue to say as I have always said...You cannot afford to be ignorant of the law or poor and live in the United States of America. If you are ignorant or poor, no matter how innocent you are, you will suffer dearly in this so called justice system.

And yes, I do plan to make contact with Ms. Steward and Ms. Kelly. Lastly, I would like to say thank you, Frontline, for this story. All the stories that were featured on tonight's show touched me, but the stories of the two ladies of Hearnes, Texas touched me even more.

L S

Dear FRONTLINE,

The rule of law and the right to a fair trail are some of the most basic fundamentals of a free society. Railroading defendants with plea bargaining, and for murder no less, is repugnant and reprehensible. Our legal system all to frequently confuses ìright and wrongî with ìthe law.î This erodes respect for our criminal justice system and the people that serve it.

Rather than a bastion of justice, more and more our courts seem like a vehicle for producing revenue. This amounts to taxation without representation; didnít we fight a revolution over that?

James Vann
Waitsfield , Vermont

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have been very impressed with your series of programs concerning America's so-called 'justice system'; your story on The Plea is no exception.

One fact not mentioned in your story is that not all States require that the plea be in writing; Ohio being one such state. Further, the presiding judge is not bound by the plea agreed between the defense attorney and the prosecutor and can choose to ignore it at the Sentencing Hearing. In effect, there is no guarantee a defendant will get the terms agreed to in accepting a plean.

Some readers will disagree and cite applicable State and Federal criminal rules statutes which mandate the actions the judge can legally take in response to a plea; but I can tell you first hand that what is more important is the defendant's actual agreement to accept a plea that will overshadow any breach of law or constitutional protections - popular and legal belief is that a person must have been guilty or they wouldn't have taken a plea. It happended to my sister who was sentenced by a judge campainging for the State Appeals Court; the media was invited to witness her impose her brand of justice which was not in accord with the plea.

Worse, there is no recourse if you are poor. The people profiled in your program are but a few examples of tens of thousands who have experienced similar fate.

Bremerton, WA

Dear FRONTLINE,

I have the same impulse as Colin Meridith to help Erma Faye pay her legal fees. I hope many other do too. A magnificent program!

Edith Risher
Oakland, Ca