4 ms·

It's not the prosecutor's job to decide if the law is just or if the punishment is commensurate. The prosecutor's job is to prosecute. Unfortunately, a primary

It's not the prosecutor's job to decide if the law is just or if the punishment is commensurate. The prosecutor's job is to prosecute. Unfortunately, a primary tool in that job seems to be plea-bargaining. I hope that some change in the way plea-bargaining is used comes from this tragedy, but it's disingenuous to get upset when that reform fails to arise from the very people who rely on abusing that tool to do their job and who in principle have no particular say in how the law is written or interpreted.

deleted 14y ago
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derekp7 14y ago
I think the best change in plea-bargaining is if a bargain was offered and rejected, then the prosecutor has to win on all counts, and get the full penalty asked for, or get nothing at all. It is very likely that not all 19 counts would have come back guilty, so in a case like this there would be incentive on the prosecution side to only push as far as is likely to be won. And, I think this has some merit in the same spirit as the double jeopardy section of the 5'th.
- TylerE 14y ago
  No prosecutor would ever offer a plea bargain in that situation. If they were 100% of a full conviction why would they bargain?
  - msandford 14y ago
    Many plea bargains would be offered in those situations. What the parent is suggesting is that the jury has to come back with "fully guilty of all charges" in which case the person gets all the appropriate time, or "not fully guilty of all charges" in which case the person is ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES. This would provide a powerful incentive to not stack many multiple charges on solely for intimidation, even if they're completely irrelevant.
DanBC 14y ago
> It's not the prosecutor's job to decide if the law is just or if the punishment is commensurate. The prosecutor's job is to prosecute. > Unfortunately, a primary tool in that job seems to be plea-bargaining. I cannot reconcile those statements. If a prosecutor's job is to prosecute then they should charge with crimes, and say what the maximum sentences might be, and go to court. But they clearly think that part of their job is to adjust the sentence to be commensurate.
- fusiongyro 14y ago
  Plea bargaining is like any other negotiation. It's a poor strategy to admit you're in a bad position when you can instead make it sound like you're taking pity on the other party.

deleted 14y ago

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derekp7 14y ago

I think the best change in plea-bargaining is if a bargain was offered and rejected, then the prosecutor has to win on all counts, and get the full penalty asked for, or get nothing at all. It is very likely that not all 19 counts would have come back guilty, so in a case like this there would be incentive on the prosecution side to only push as far as is likely to be won. And, I think this has some merit in the same spirit as the double jeopardy section of the 5'th.

TylerE 14y ago
No prosecutor would ever offer a plea bargain in that situation. If they were 100% of a full conviction why would they bargain?
- msandford 14y ago
  Many plea bargains would be offered in those situations. What the parent is suggesting is that the jury has to come back with "fully guilty of all charges" in which case the person gets all the appropriate time, or "not fully guilty of all charges" in which case the person is ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES. This would provide a powerful incentive to not stack many multiple charges on solely for intimidation, even if they're completely irrelevant.

DanBC 14y ago

> It's not the prosecutor's job to decide if the law is just or if the punishment is commensurate. The prosecutor's job is to prosecute. > Unfortunately, a primary tool in that job seems to be plea-bargaining. I cannot reconcile those statements. If a prosecutor's job is to prosecute then they should charge with crimes, and say what the maximum sentences might be, and go to court. But they clearly think that part of their job is to adjust the sentence to be commensurate.

fusiongyro 14y ago
Plea bargaining is like any other negotiation. It's a poor strategy to admit you're in a bad position when you can instead make it sound like you're taking pity on the other party.