6 ms·
When defendants can be over whelmed to the point of suicide, with many charges, knowing that a jury is likely to find guilt on at least one of them, and basical
by alan_cx 13y ago
When defendants can be over whelmed to the point of suicide, with many charges, knowing that a jury is likely to find guilt on at least one of them, and basically feel (s)he might as well plead guilty to get a lesser of two evils sentence, I'm not sure how any one thinks they can get a fair trial in the US, unless they have a huge amount of money to lose, let alone the likes of Snowden.
The idea of facing any sort of trial in a US court scares me senseless.
- carbocation 13y agoOften, assets will be frozen before the trial (see Silverglate's Three Felonies A Day for more details), so even those with vast resources may be unable to bring them to bear.
- tptacek 13y agoThis happens in cases where those assets are alleged to be the product of the crime itself; most felonies don't create that circumstance.
- mpyne 13y agoHow does one get a fair trial in any nation with a free press and freedom of speech then? If the jury has been tampered with, it has been by the incessant media coverage, which is permitted by the wide-ranging protections on the press, protections which Snowden is fighting for along with the rest of our Bill of Rights, no?
- Zigurd 13y agoWe could start by punishing some of the prosecutors who are particularly notorious for creating these conditions.
- mpyne 13y agoWhat prosecutors are responsible for the 24/7 news cycle?
- pfortuny 13y agoFirst of all, you need a trial. Go ask the people at Guantanamo. Then it needs to be fair. Which means that both parties (the State and the individual, in this case) abide by the same laws. This is what is tricky, but in this case, Snowden could point out that (simplifying a lot): * The law he is abiding by is the Constitution. * The prosecutors will claim that he has broken other laws which have not been deemed unconstitutional. * While those laws are reviewed (if they are, upon his appeal), he will not be treated justly (which to him probably seems quite likely).
- twoodfin 13y agoThe law he is abiding by is the Constitution. Where in the Constitution is the right to flee the United States with laptops full of classified information you illegally obtained? Snowden has clearly committed serious crimes. It's fine to argue they were somehow for the greater good—though I'm not sure what "greater good" carelessly exposing classified information to the Russians and Chinese might be serving—but it seems like the government could present a slam dunk case against him while entirely respecting his rights.
- pfortuny 13y agoWell, yes. You know: he could not do it from the US, so he decides to break a lesser important law for the greater good.
- alan_cx 13y agoWell, in the US you cant. Defendants are demonized by the police even before they reach trial. Note how Snowden is already a guilty traitor before even arrest, let alone trial. In the UK we are incredible careful about what is said in the press until guilt is found.