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To protect the constitutional right to trial and discourage imposition of extended sentences for defendants who elect to go to trial instead of accepting a plea offer, and for other purposes.
Summary
The Right to Trial Act modifies federal sentencing guidelines to protect defendants' constitutional right to go to trial. It requires judges to consider whether imposing a sentence—particularly a mandatory minimum—would effectively penalize a defendant for rejecting a plea offer and choosing to go to trial instead. The bill allows judges to sentence below statutory minimum sentences when necessary to protect this constitutional right. Judges must also consider the sentences and plea offers given to similarly situated defendants who pleaded guilty when determining an appropriate sentence.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor
Actions (2)
- Jun 2, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary. · house
- Jun 2, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 2, 2026
Mr. Griffith (for himself and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To protect the constitutional right to trial and discourage imposition of extended sentences for defendants who elect to go to trial instead of accepting a plea offer, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Right to Trial Act”.
SEC. 2. FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION WHEN IMPOSING A SENTENCE; AUTHORITY TO DEVIATE FROM STATUTORY MINIMUM.
(a) Factors.—Section 3553(a) of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in paragraph (5)(B), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon;
(2) in paragraph (6), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon;
(3) in paragraph (7), by striking the period and inserting a semicolon; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
“(8) the need to protect the constitutional right to a trial, including by prohibiting impairment of such a right in any case in which an increased sentence is threatened or imposed based on a defendant’s decision to go to trial and not accept a plea offer;
“(9) in the case of—
“(A) crimes involving similarly situated codefendants or group conduct, the plea offer, if applicable, and each sentence (and anticipated sentence) of any similarly situated codefendant or similarly situated other person charged in the same or related offense who pled guilty; and
“(B) crimes not involving codefendants or group conduct, the plea agreements and the sentences for similarly situated defendants who pled guilty to similar offenses; and
“(10) whether imposition of a statutory minimum sentence would constitute a penalty for asserting the constitutional right to a trial, thereby warranting imposition of a sentence below the statutory minimum.”.
(b) Authority.—Section 3553(e) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after “committed an offense.” the following: “The court shall have the authority to impose a sentence below a level established by statute as a minimum sentence so as to protect the constitutional right to trial.” <all>
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