>>Plea-bargaining is the most odious ingredient to add to the mix,
>>making punishment quite arbitrary in practice, in spite of
>>so-called minimum sentencing. (Following what is often a form of
>>trial by ordeal.) It is no exaggeration to say that you end up with
>>a pre Magna Carta justice system, with arbitrary imprisonment at
>>the whim of executive government.
>
>Allow me once again to cite The Sopranos, where Johnny "Sack"
>Sacramoni takes 15 years in a deal with the feds despite the best
>lawyering money can buy. Of course he's guilty as hell, but still...
I like the Sopranos, but I liked Rumpole of the Bailey a lot more. I'll see your Sopranos and cite you a Rumpole: "NEVER plead guilty!"
Unfortunately you can't buy lawyering like Rumpole anymore, if you EVER could. These days you can only get lawyers who assume all their clients are guilty. (Which is properly the job of the prosecution lawyer.) If that's the best lawyering your money can buy, then you might as well represent yourself.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas