4 ms·

> is rejected the prosecution will go for a much higher punishment, sometimes as much as 10 times as much as offered in the deal In this case it sounds like th

> is rejected the prosecution will go for a much higher punishment, sometimes as much as 10 times as much as offered in the deal In this case it sounds like the prosecutor was going for 70x the plea offer before the plea was even rejected. Simply outrageous.

btilly 14y ago
Not exactly. The statutory limit was that much. The prosecutor claimed to be planning to press for about 12-14x the plea offer.
- maratd 14y ago
  > The prosecutor claimed to be planning to press for about 12-14x the plea offer. Is that better? There comes a point where it doesn't make a difference anymore. Ever see a sale like that? Where one day something costs 10 bucks and then the next day it's 170? Me neither. That's not a deal. It's blackmail. Do what we want or we'll do our best to destroy your whole life. Justice, eh?
  - foxbunny 14y ago
    We'll let you off the hook if you pay us $200 of the $2000 that you may or may not actually owe us. And just in case you've missed it, there are four snipers at the top of the roof. I don't know what they're doing there, but thought you might wanna know.
mindslight 14y ago
Never mind the nonlinear severity function of time in prison. Which gives me another idea - fungible jail time. I'd have spent a day in jail for Aaron.
- eru 14y ago
  > Which gives me another idea - fungible jail time. I'd have spent a day in jail for Aaron. Not a good idea. Well connected people will get off lightly.
  - mindslight 14y ago
    Connected in what way? Bernie Madoff isn't going to find any friends to do time for him. Monetary compensation though? That's a whole nother can of worms. Although I've got to wonder if the incentives are aligned such that it would encourage better prison conditions.
    - sliverstorm 14y ago
      How about Al Capone. They had a hard enough time putting him away, if he could have mobsters rotate through jail to do time for him they would have never kept him behind bars.
    - tedunangst 14y ago
      Gangs? You already get promoted for doing time, providing opportunities for volunteering seems unwise.
      - mindslight 14y ago
        hm. Well, if we allow a volunteer to stop volunteering at any point, this necessitates that the actual inmate remains in jail (concurrently) until the original sentence is completely fulfilled. So a 20 year gangbanger rap might turn into 4 5-year sentences. Or 20 1-year sentences. But the latter might be foolish, as the gang would lose power if most members were out of the game. Just was trying to think of ways for 'social proof' that certain sentences were outrageous and ridiculous (beyond juries, since their "peer" requirement has been effectively destroyed in today's specialization-based society).
        tedunangst 14y ago
        I've spent some time thinking about this myself, and about time vs money tradeoffs. Depends on what you think prison is for. If it's rehab, rehabbing a group of friends doesn't seem to work. If it's a safe place to keep bad people, you're not keeping them there. If it's about punishment, then maybe. But prison sucks not just because you have to eat crappy food. It's because you have to eat crappy food everyday. If a rotating crew each serves one day, what's that? I can go a day without eating. This is a sum of the parts less than the whole situation. And the key is that people in jail aren't free to pick their schedule. You don't get to swap out with a buddy so you can attend your sister's wedding. If you're stuck in a shitty place unless you get someone to cover your shift, you're not in prison. You're working at walmart. Incidentally, I've read that hiring prison doubles is a thing in China. It's illegal, so you're effectively under house arrest for the duration to avoid detection, but you're also not in prison. The guy you hired to show up and say your name is. If a sentence is outrageous, you get a crowd of people to march around and protest until the governor or president grants a pardon. That's the existing process to deal with exceptional circumstances.

btilly 14y ago

Not exactly. The statutory limit was that much. The prosecutor claimed to be planning to press for about 12-14x the plea offer.

maratd 14y ago
> The prosecutor claimed to be planning to press for about 12-14x the plea offer. Is that better? There comes a point where it doesn't make a difference anymore. Ever see a sale like that? Where one day something costs 10 bucks and then the next day it's 170? Me neither. That's not a deal. It's blackmail. Do what we want or we'll do our best to destroy your whole life. Justice, eh?
- foxbunny 14y ago
  We'll let you off the hook if you pay us $200 of the $2000 that you may or may not actually owe us. And just in case you've missed it, there are four snipers at the top of the roof. I don't know what they're doing there, but thought you might wanna know.

mindslight 14y ago

Never mind the nonlinear severity function of time in prison. Which gives me another idea - fungible jail time. I'd have spent a day in jail for Aaron.

eru 14y ago
> Which gives me another idea - fungible jail time. I'd have spent a day in jail for Aaron. Not a good idea. Well connected people will get off lightly.
- mindslight 14y ago
  Connected in what way? Bernie Madoff isn't going to find any friends to do time for him. Monetary compensation though? That's a whole nother can of worms. Although I've got to wonder if the incentives are aligned such that it would encourage better prison conditions.
  - sliverstorm 14y ago
    How about Al Capone. They had a hard enough time putting him away, if he could have mobsters rotate through jail to do time for him they would have never kept him behind bars.
  - tedunangst 14y ago
    Gangs? You already get promoted for doing time, providing opportunities for volunteering seems unwise.
    - mindslight 14y ago
      hm. Well, if we allow a volunteer to stop volunteering at any point, this necessitates that the actual inmate remains in jail (concurrently) until the original sentence is completely fulfilled. So a 20 year gangbanger rap might turn into 4 5-year sentences. Or 20 1-year sentences. But the latter might be foolish, as the gang would lose power if most members were out of the game. Just was trying to think of ways for 'social proof' that certain sentences were outrageous and ridiculous (beyond juries, since their "peer" requirement has been effectively destroyed in today's specialization-based society).
      - tedunangst 14y ago
        I've spent some time thinking about this myself, and about time vs money tradeoffs. Depends on what you think prison is for. If it's rehab, rehabbing a group of friends doesn't seem to work. If it's a safe place to keep bad people, you're not keeping them there. If it's about punishment, then maybe. But prison sucks not just because you have to eat crappy food. It's because you have to eat crappy food everyday. If a rotating crew each serves one day, what's that? I can go a day without eating. This is a sum of the parts less than the whole situation. And the key is that people in jail aren't free to pick their schedule. You don't get to swap out with a buddy so you can attend your sister's wedding. If you're stuck in a shitty place unless you get someone to cover your shift, you're not in prison. You're working at walmart. Incidentally, I've read that hiring prison doubles is a thing in China. It's illegal, so you're effectively under house arrest for the duration to avoid detection, but you're also not in prison. The guy you hired to show up and say your name is. If a sentence is outrageous, you get a crowd of people to march around and protest until the governor or president grants a pardon. That's the existing process to deal with exceptional circumstances.