I wish more people were pissed off at plea bargaining. Yes, I know people think, the US needs it. But there's plenty of countries without plea bargaining (or at

I wish more people were pissed off at plea bargaining. Yes, I know people think, the US needs it. But there's plenty of countries without plea bargaining (or at least, with a greatly reduced plea bargaining system). IMO, it should simply result in a reduced sentence, at the discretion of the judge (as evidence of remorse, not a reward for making the court's job easier). The government doesn't threaten you with a bigger sentence if you refuse to be unconstitutionally searched (if you tell the cops to come back if they get a warrant). You don't get a smaller sentence for waiving your right to a silence, or counsel. But you do get a smaller sentence for waiving a right to a fair trial. I can't really see how this is constitutional, but being forced to waive other rights isn't. Yes, things would be easier if criminals were coerced (by the threat of a larger sentence) to let the police search them without a warrant, to answer everything the police asked, to not to lawyer up, and to confess their guilt without a trial. But it's not the way a free country works. And you are punished with stiffer sentences. If criminals are getting off lightly (due to plea bargaining), then politicians will raise sentences. This means people who do nothing more than demand a fair trial will receive stiffer punishments than they deserve. I can't see how a lack of fair trials serves justice either. It encourages lazy police work. And an unfair process turns people against the system. If people accept plea bargains, do they really see themselves a guilty, or simply persecuted by "the system"?