Say "No" To Plea Bargaining

goofyfish

goofyfish

Analog By Birth, Digital By Design
Valued Senior Member
Most violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, and we do not yet have the means to prevent -- or even control -- these violent predators. It is obvious that the only effective solution to such aggressors is to lock them away from those of us who have evolved from mere animals into rational animals. Yet, we haven't done the obvious.

We've packed our prisons full of non-violent criminals -- and worse yet -- those who are not criminals at all. The result is that most who would be convicted of murder still go free after relatively few years. Even where we have improved our penalties, we have circumvented the effort by plea bargaining all but the very worst offenders down to insure we get them behind bars for a limited time. We need to eliminate plea bargaining and dump the notion that people should get time off for good behavior -- good behavior should be EXPECTED, not rewarded (by the way, it would be truly helpful for all parents to instill this in their children from a very young age).

:m: Peace.
 
Say "Yes" To Plea Bargaining

I take the opposite viewpoint. Consider a case in Seattle involving the suspected Green River serial killer (45+ women killed). Taxpayers will lose an estimated $8 million to both defend and prosecute him at trial. Certainly it is in the public's best interest to offer him life in prison rather than the death penalty, for a plea that prevents a trial. Think of how many other crimes could be solved for that $8 million.

Similarly, when multiple people are involved in a crime, it is often in taxpayers’ best interest to offer a plea to one suspect in return for testifying against the others, to save on investigation costs. And without a plea bargain you may never be able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the suspects are guilty.

I think it’s better to reward the good behavior of prisoners rather than expect it. If you expect it and tack on to the sentence for bad behavior, then you’re going to get generally unruly prisoners who avoid crossing the line into the bad. With time off for good behavior, prisoners will need to show they are crossing the line into the good. It seems to me it would be easier to control the prison population that way. Consider that death row inmates must be housed separately in part because there is no incentive for their good behavior.

Also in Washington State there is the opposite happening, and I find it bad. A serial killer in Spokane pleaded guilty in return for life in prison without the possibility of parole. But for two of his murders that occurred in another county, the prosecutor there refused to plea bargain. Consequently the serial killer is facing the death penalty for those crimes. Not only are the taxpayers footing the bill for little benefit—indeed more crime can be expected to remain unsolved in that county due to less money—but future criminals will not be so quick to accept a plea bargain, causing a downward spiral in law enforcement.
 
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there IS no plea barganing in australia

if they testify against another person (ie dealers against drug lords) then the JUDGE desides if its enough
 
Hmm. That would be unusual. Google finds many references to plea bargaining in Australia. For example: “The sexual assault and killing ... on 15th October 2000 saw two teenagers imprisoned for six years with a minimum of four. A plea bargain before the April 2002 trial saw the original murder charge being reduced to manslaughter.”

I also found this tidbit: “The [Australian] Premier has publicly, and rightly, stated that plea bargaining will not be affected. Plea bargaining reduces the cost of legal processes and speeds up the handling of cases. Most importantly, in rape cases—and this is what is really important to women—it eliminates the need for victims to relive their trauma by giving evidence in court.”
 
After the sentencing, the Victorian Director of Public Prosecutions was placed under intense media and political pressure, although an objective assessment of the evidence suggests that an appeal appears likely. In the June 2002 edition of this site, the case and outcome will be analysed more closely in terms of the separation of powers principles. With politicians criticising the presiding judge, Justice Bongiorno, it appears that some of our elected representatives need a quick lesson in the right of the judiciary to remain independent of political influences!


plea bargaing is a breach of the sepration of powers
 
NO to plea-bargaining

Another reason to be against plea-bargaining is that it puts pressure on innocent people to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. If someone faces ten years in prison versus 6 months if they're willing to plead guilty, they may go for it, even if they're innocent.
I don't think the elimination of plea-bargaining is something that should be done on its own though. The whole US court system needs a major overhaul
 
It doesn't seem relevant to the issue whether or not the accused is guilty. If innocent and no plea is offered, then they're facing ten years. I agree on the overhaul.
 
Originally posted by zanket
Consider a case in Seattle involving the suspected Green River serial killer (45+ women killed). Taxpayers will lose an estimated $8 million to both defend and prosecute him at trial. Certainly it is in the public's best interest to offer him life in prison rather than the death penalty...
Click to expand...
I do not support the death penalty; one reason being that it is my opinion that life in a box is a greater punishment than oblivion. I weakly stated this with
...the only effective solution to such aggressors is to lock them away from those of us...
Click to expand...
Sorry for the confusion, Zan, and I am considering the rest of your post.

:m: Peace.
 
I don't support the death penalty either. But you can substitute any two unequal prison sentences and my point about plea bargaining remains the same.
 
So an individual accused of murder and facing life in prison
without parole should be allowed a plea bargain that would allow
them to be back on the streets in the future, and this should
be based on a monetary factor?

:m: Peace.
 
Yes, that is often the best choice methinks. Suppose my state didn’t have the death penalty and the Green River serial killer suspect was facing life in prison. To save $8 million in trial costs that could be used to solve many other murders, I’d support giving him a sentence of 25 years. The guy is nearing 50 now, so it’d be a good bet that he’d be either dead or infirm by the time he got out. He might take the plea bargain on the off chance he’d have some freedom before he dies, especially if he’s convinced he’d lose at trial anyway.

In cases where there are multiple suspects with little chance of proving guilt beyond reasonable doubt, such a plea bargain is certainly the better choice. Putting 3 out of 4 suspects away for life at the cost of letting the 4th get a 20-year sentence is better than putting none of them away. Although I must stress that in this case the testimony of the sell-out must be beyond reasonable doubt. For example, if the sell-out can show where the victim’s body is, and nobody could have been convicted without the body, then the taxpayers got a good deal by plea bargaining.
 
Amazing

All I'm going to say is that if Al Qaeda is as nasty as they say, it's a bad idea to give $27m to even a footsoldier. If this guy blows something up in London, I will very seriously consider laughing.

On the other hand, given the assertion that in many parts of the Arab world the only education a man can get is from a warlord ("Taliban", I'm told, translates to, "The Students"), it may be that this guy just wants to be a human being and this is money well spent. Who knows? Economy, opportunity ... we'll see what the future brings.

But if it's death, I can't promise a dignified suffering of the irony on my part.

:m:,
Tiassa :cool:
 
If we, here in the US, simply enforced the laws we already have, then we would be insouciant.;) NO PLEAS please.
 
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