4 ms·
Drug related convictions are really mostly drug-related plea deals. We know for sure that the convicts thought it safer to go to prison on drug charges than to
by iguy 9y ago
Drug related convictions are really mostly drug-related plea deals.
We know for sure that the convicts thought it safer to go to prison on drug charges than to go to court. We don't actually know whether they broke some other laws, and the DA simplified the paperwork. Seems to me that we ought to know this, before deciding what to do.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoWell if the DA believes they can be tried for other offences the DA should argue that.
- iguy 9y agoI like the idea of a justice system where all trials are public and you're tried for the crime you actually committed. But that ship sailed a long time ago, in the US -- it's something like 95% plea deals now. Only we pay lip service to old ideas. Under the current system, it seems to me that plea bargains act as contracts "I agree to serve X years & not go to court", despite being phrased as "I admit guilt for Y crime" on paper. Of course people actually convicted of crime Y also exist. I'm just surprised that this whole thread assumes that only they exist.
- Maybestring 9y agoThere may even have been incentives to turn other crimes into drug charges. DEA grants to local law enforcement tied drug convictions.
- TheSpiceIsLife 9y agoSome police officers will even plant drugs at the scene of a crime.[1] It would be trivial for a police officer to carry a bag of marijuana/ cocaine / amphetamine and arrest anyone they like for possession. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/us/baltimore-officer-video-drugs.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/24/us/baltimore-officer-vide...