Should all plea bargaining with alleged criminals be handled by a department of the US Government officially known as “The Department of Alleged Criminal Negotiations?”
In this section, I use only male gender pronouns for the sake of readability.
Many criminal court cases are dismissed for various reasons, and many are handled exclusively by a judge (i.e., via a “bench trial.”). Of the remaining ones, many involve “negotiations” with an alleged criminal. My understanding is that the alleged criminal is “encouraged” to plead guilty (perhaps to a lesser charge), and in so doing, he will receive a much less harsh sentence than he will if his case goes to a jury trial and he is found guilty. The alleged criminal is typically reminded of the quantity and believability of the evidence that will be used against him. In some cases, the alleged criminal has the option to maintain his innocence while admitting that a great deal of incriminating evidence is available to be used against him.
There is a great deal of concern that innocent people may choose to accept a plea bargain in a case simply because it is the most logical choice (albeit not a good one) under the circumstances. As an oversimplified example, imagine that the accused party has two viable options: 1) Allow his case to go to trial knowing (perhaps as advised by his attorney) that it is very likely that the jury will find him guilty, in which case he will be sentenced to 30 years in a maximum-security prison. 2) Plead guilty to a lesser charge, accept a sentence of 5 years in a medium-security prison, with the option to have the crime expunged from his record pending good behavior during his parole period. Which option will he take? Many people would choose option 2 even if they are innocent, if they don't feel as though they will be able to prove such to a jury. This may be even more so the case if they are unable to afford an attorney whose experience and abilities are at least equal to those of the attorney for the prosecution.
There is also concern that plea bargains are increasingly being offered to violent and dangerous criminals simply because courts are backlogged and underfunded, and because counties don't have the money and/or space to house criminals for lengthy periods of time even if they want to. The end result of plea bargains is that criminals are quickly tossed back on the streets, and almost certainly continue to commit more crimes simply because that's all they know how to do.
Based on my observations, people are getting tired of hearing about “negotiations” and “bargains” with rapists and murderers, let alone having such take place in a so-called “justice center” or “court of law.” The compassion of American citizens is rapidly diminishing, and rightly so. There is a limit to how many times we can hear a news story about a violent criminal with a “rap sheet a mile long” comprised of nothing but plea-bargained relatively brief stints in prison.
It is time to stop trying to fool The People into thinking that there is any semblance of actual “justice” in America. It has become nothing but pure politics and economics. We need to start labeling things accurately. For example, the government department that deals with motor vehicles is called “The Department of Motor Vehicles.” By the same logic, the government department that negotiates plea bargain deals with alleged criminals should be renamed to “The Department of Alleged Criminal Negotiations.”
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Many criminal court cases are dismissed for various reasons, and many are handled exclusively by a judge (i.e., via a “bench trial.”). Of the remaining ones, many involve “negotiations” with an alleged criminal. My understanding is that the alleged criminal is “encouraged” to plead guilty (perhaps to a lesser charge), and in so doing, he will receive a much less harsh sentence than he will if his case goes to a jury trial and he is found guilty. The alleged criminal is typically reminded of the quantity and believability of the evidence that will be used against him. In some cases, the alleged criminal has the option to maintain his innocence while admitting that a great deal of incriminating evidence is available to be used against him.
There is a great deal of concern that innocent people may choose to accept a plea bargain in a case simply because it is the most logical choice (albeit not a good one) under the circumstances. As an oversimplified example, imagine that the accused party has two viable options: 1) Allow his case to go to trial knowing (perhaps as advised by his attorney) that it is very likely that the jury will find him guilty, in which case he will be sentenced to 30 years in a maximum-security prison. 2) Plead guilty to a lesser charge, accept a sentence of 5 years in a medium-security prison, with the option to have the crime expunged from his record pending good behavior during his parole period. Which option will he take? Many people would choose option 2 even if they are innocent, if they don't feel as though they will be able to prove such to a jury. This may be even more so the case if they are unable to afford an attorney whose experience and abilities are at least equal to those of the attorney for the prosecution.
There is also concern that plea bargains are increasingly being offered to violent and dangerous criminals simply because courts are backlogged and underfunded, and because counties don't have the money and/or space to house criminals for lengthy periods of time even if they want to. The end result of plea bargains is that criminals are quickly tossed back on the streets, and almost certainly continue to commit more crimes simply because that's all they know how to do.
Based on my observations, people are getting tired of hearing about “negotiations” and “bargains” with rapists and murderers, let alone having such take place in a so-called “justice center” or “court of law.” The compassion of American citizens is rapidly diminishing, and rightly so. There is a limit to how many times we can hear a news story about a violent criminal with a “rap sheet a mile long” comprised of nothing but plea-bargained relatively brief stints in prison.
It is time to stop trying to fool The People into thinking that there is any semblance of actual “justice” in America. It has become nothing but pure politics and economics. We need to start labeling things accurately. For example, the government department that deals with motor vehicles is called “The Department of Motor Vehicles.” By the same logic, the government department that negotiates plea bargain deals with alleged criminals should be renamed to “The Department of Alleged Criminal Negotiations.”
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