5 ms·
Federal criminal law is an absolute travesty. Not only are the sentences typically very harsh (10+ years in prison is typical) but also many of the statutes are
by invokestatic 5y ago
Federal criminal law is an absolute travesty. Not only are the sentences typically very harsh (10+ years in prison is typical) but also many of the statutes are incredibly broad. The book “ Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent” by Harvey Silverglate was a real eye opener for me. There are so many criminal statutes that prosecutors could lock away virtually any American, even if they’ve not really done anything that a reasonable person would think is wrong.
- dhimes 5y agoJuries are supposed to protect against some of that, fortunately.
- giantg2 5y agoExcept they are often intimidated from invoking things like jury nullification. Selection of juries is highly political and then the court decides whether information is relevant to be given to the jury. I don't see juries really providing much protection.
- invokestatic 5y agoYet the federal conviction rate is well above 99%. The book provides actual examples where people have gone to prison over nothing.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- mcguire 5y ago74% of sentences are < 5 years. (https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/research-publications/2021/FY20_Overview_Federal_Criminal_Cases.pdf https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-pu...)
- dannyphantom 5y agoA Crime a Day on Twitter is fun to casually scroll through. https://twitter.com/CrimeADay https://twitter.com/CrimeADay