Second, prosecutors don't create the problematic system, they are just grunts doing their job -- which mostly involves keeping bad guys off the streets, btw, and I say this as a criminal defense lawyer. 98% of what they do is wholly laudable work done under difficult to impossible conditions -- and with state prosecutors, for little pay. ASAs here in Illinois start at, what, $30K? The problem is partly too few resources to support jury trials, partly (mainly) way too much criminalization and incarceration.
As Nathan would say, you want to stop the plea bargaining system, get legislation that would ban it. And funding for 10 zillion new judges and Lord knows how many jury trials. Good luck!
Btw, you know that most countries don't have jury trial at all even for most criminal actions -- that's a common law tradition. A good one, I think, but not a due process requirement. It doesn't "shock the conscience" (at least mine) that Belgian burglars are tried before a judge -- that doesn't mean Belgium is a fascist dictatorship. I don't knwo how much plea bargaining there is in Belgium. They are a lot less into criminalization and incarceration there, I know.
jks
Carrol Cox <cbcox at ilstu.edu> wrote:
andie nachgeborenen wrote:
>
> A few years ago one Circuit, I think it was the 10th, ruled that an
> offer of time for cooperation was unlawful, but this was overruled by
> the Court en banc. So the issue has been raised. jks
>
One of the ways I've spent my idle hours for many years is daydreaming of things "The Left" might do if/when it came into existence once more. One of those daydreams involved ways such a mass movement could make life personally unpleasant for DAs who engaged in plea-bargaining.
Carrol
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