U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's decision to withdraw plea agreements with 9/11 suspects at Guantánamo Ba sparked outrage and legal concerns. Victims' families seek justice, but the military commission process remains flawed.
Plea bargains are a way for the state to save itself the expense of a trial but the way it works out is to compel people to accept a lighter punishment via plea deal than they might get at trial even if they are innocent because there is little that pisses of the incarceration industrial complex more than being innocent.
Judges (generally) can’t just summarily pronounce you guilty, but they can let the prosecution get away with anything it wants, prohibit you from presenting evidence on your own behalf, and editorialize on the facts of the case to the jury.
The whole system is engineered to lock up as many people as possible and it makes a mind boggling amount of money doing it while also using various methods to discourage targeted civilians from participating in society.
Hard to take you seriously when you seemingly aren’t aware of judge-alone trials. I don’t think you have a clue what you’re taking about. Also, judges in jury trials still play a huge influence on the jury’s decisionmaking. It’s common for POC in redneck areas to opt for judge alone trials instead of dealing with a jury of folks who are far from their peers.
Pleas bargains in theory work as you described. In reality, they’re pushed by prosecutors with the "we know you can’t afford a trial and/or are too scared to face a harsh sentence" addendum.
Juries determine guilt. Judges conduct trials.
Plea bargains are a way for the state to save itself the expense of a trial but the way it works out is to compel people to accept a lighter punishment via plea deal than they might get at trial even if they are innocent because there is little that pisses of the incarceration industrial complex more than being innocent.
Judges (generally) can’t just summarily pronounce you guilty, but they can let the prosecution get away with anything it wants, prohibit you from presenting evidence on your own behalf, and editorialize on the facts of the case to the jury.
The whole system is engineered to lock up as many people as possible and it makes a mind boggling amount of money doing it while also using various methods to discourage targeted civilians from participating in society.
Hard to take you seriously when you seemingly aren’t aware of judge-alone trials. I don’t think you have a clue what you’re taking about. Also, judges in jury trials still play a huge influence on the jury’s decisionmaking. It’s common for POC in redneck areas to opt for judge alone trials instead of dealing with a jury of folks who are far from their peers.
Pleas bargains in theory work as you described. In reality, they’re pushed by prosecutors with the "we know you can’t afford a trial and/or are too scared to face a harsh sentence" addendum.