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> I encourage everybody to read up on the horrors of how the death penalty functions in practice. Especially in combination with the plea-bargain system, that e

> I encourage everybody to read up on the horrors of how the death penalty functions in practice. Especially in combination with the plea-bargain system, that effectively robs > 95% of suspects from their constitutional right to a fair trial. What do you mean by "in combination with," here? If you mean that the death penalty is used to convince people to plead guilty, I'm with you. But if you're saying that a large number of people who are sentenced to death were pressured into pleading guilty, then I am skeptical, since it is unclear what the defendant is receiving in exchange for the plea. (Usually it is a lighter sentence...)

mikeyouse 11y ago
I read his post as the death penalty can be a bludgeon that prosecuting attorneys will wield to get many more plea bargains from people accused of serious crimes. Pleading out to lesser offenses still with decades in prison is a much different calculation for the accused if the alternative is a trial with a death penalty vs. a trial with another decade or two on the end.
- Lawtonfogle 11y ago
  Plea bargains are a very core corruption of our justice system and should be outright banned in every shape and form. Everyone who has ever accepted a plea should have all punishments immediately ended (and any penalties accrued while in prison just for a plea), but prosecutors would be allowed to bring trials up against anyone freed to sentence them to their time served (the overload in cases would force them to prioritize on only the worse offenders who probably did do it while those who were forced to take a plea on dubious grounds would be ignored and left to live their lives). And this would include compensation for all those who have been imprisoned over a plea deal. In short, every plea deal should be considered a grave injustice that needs to be corrected. Of course, it will never happen.
philwelch 11y ago
It's a real life Prisoners Dilemma, it turns out--plead guilty and finger this other guy we have in Holding Cell B, you get life in prison and he gets the death penalty.

mikeyouse 11y ago

I read his post as the death penalty can be a bludgeon that prosecuting attorneys will wield to get many more plea bargains from people accused of serious crimes. Pleading out to lesser offenses still with decades in prison is a much different calculation for the accused if the alternative is a trial with a death penalty vs. a trial with another decade or two on the end.

Lawtonfogle 11y ago
Plea bargains are a very core corruption of our justice system and should be outright banned in every shape and form. Everyone who has ever accepted a plea should have all punishments immediately ended (and any penalties accrued while in prison just for a plea), but prosecutors would be allowed to bring trials up against anyone freed to sentence them to their time served (the overload in cases would force them to prioritize on only the worse offenders who probably did do it while those who were forced to take a plea on dubious grounds would be ignored and left to live their lives). And this would include compensation for all those who have been imprisoned over a plea deal. In short, every plea deal should be considered a grave injustice that needs to be corrected. Of course, it will never happen.

philwelch 11y ago

It's a real life Prisoners Dilemma, it turns out--plead guilty and finger this other guy we have in Holding Cell B, you get life in prison and he gets the death penalty.