>Every person accused of a crime should have the right to a trial if they want one, and they should never be subject to additional punishment for insisting that

>Every person accused of a crime should have the right to a trial if they want one, and they should never be subject to additional punishment for insisting that they get it I explained this to Nitrogen in this thread. Everyone is looking at this in a vacuum and thinking, "if the Gov offered a lesser sentence with a plea, but sought higher sentencing after a conviction at trial, then they are being vindictive." But they are not being vindictive, because that's what they wanted and may have been appropriate all along. Alternatively, a plea would not exist if the Prosecutor said the plea is "x", but you can go to trial and get a free bite at the apple and if you lose I promise to only seek "x", because everyone would go to trial. The real negative of a system like that would be maximums across the board which would neither serve society or most defendants.