<DIV>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 Miles Jackson <cqmv@pdx.edu> wrote: <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"> On Wed, 25 Aug 2004, Bill Bartlett wrote: > The US system of "plea bargaining", in the context of draconian > penalties applied to accused persons who dare to exercise their right > to a fair trial, effectively amount to (and are deliberately designed > to) compel people to testify against themselves. I think Bill has a valid point here. This plea bargaining shit has always seemed like a clear violation of the Constitution to me. If I were to pressure someone to provide testimony in a court case by using threats, I'd be arrested. Why is it different for DAs? Justin, Nathan, how do lawyers finesse this? Miles ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <hr size=1>Do you Yahoo!? <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/aac/*http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail/static/ease.html">Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete</a> - You start. We finish.