Question about American justice system

Arnfinn Madsen · #1 05-12-2005, 03:12 PM

In US you have a system of plea bargain. Does it function well?

jaxmike · #2 05-12-2005, 03:22 PM

Considering our court systems are overburdened yet the Democrats in the Senate refuse to do their job of advice and consent because Republicans have nominated minorities to judgeships I would say yes.

elwoodblues · #3 05-12-2005, 03:27 PM

It works amazingly well. Convictions are guaranteed in 90+% of cases because of plea bargaining. The way that our system is currently structured, we couldn't function without it.

kurto · #4 05-12-2005, 03:31 PM

LOL.

You could post, "what is your favorite flavor of ice cream" and Jax would somehow respond by insulting Democratics, praising Republicans and then making out with a photo of Ann Coultier.

Arnfinn Madsen · #5 05-12-2005, 03:36 PM

BTW,
The reason I asked, was I saw a murder trial here in which the prosecutor and the defendant was happy with the result. I thought, what a waste of resources.

HDPM · #6 05-12-2005, 05:08 PM

Remember the US has multiple justice systems. All the states plus the federal criminal system. Things vary. But generally speaking yes, there are plea bargains. Most cases are resolved through plea agreements.

elwoodblues · #7 05-12-2005, 07:18 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Remember the US has multiple justice systems. All the states plus the federal criminal system. Things vary. But generally speaking yes, there are plea bargains.

[/ QUOTE ]

Are there any criminal systems in either state or federal courts in the US where plea bargaining isn't allowed? I'm not aware of any if there are.

HDPM · #8 05-12-2005, 10:33 PM

Allowed sure. But it varies in how it's done etc.... There have been jurisdictions that got rid of aspects of it, at least for a while. A system that truly got rid of it would be a low volume system indeed.

Felix_Nietsche · #9 05-12-2005, 11:49 PM

Yes the USA has plea bargaining/

Plea bargaining saves the country big$$$ by minimizing the cases that go to trial. The problem with plea bargaining comes from the District Attourney Offices (DA). These are lawyers who prosecute. These DAs often view their positions as stepping stones to political office. As a result, many DAs are more concerned about padding their resume's than justice. The best way to pad their resumes is to have high conviction rates. Therefore when people are found NOT GUILTY, this hurts their conviction rates. They also can pad their resumes by prosecuting celebrities.

I knew one fellow who lost his job at 50 and took a telemarketing job at $10/hour to help pay the bills. The company they work for was run by thieves who took people's money but did not deliver the product. Eventually angry consumers called govt agencies and Federal agents raided the premise. This fellow was a 'worker bee' and was not privy to the secret the company was run by thieves. His job was just to phone people. Anyway, he was threatened with 15 years in a Federal prison and he got scared and took a plea bargain to serve about two years. They wanted to charge him with a crime for EVERY PHONE CALL HE MADE.

Anyway, plea bargain convictions do improve the DAs conviction rates.

PhatTBoll · #10 05-13-2005, 12:10 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Yes the USA has plea bargaining/

Plea bargaining saves the country big$$$ by minimizing the cases that go to trial. The problem with plea bargaining comes from the District Attourney Offices (DA). These are lawyers who prosecute. These DAs often view their positions as stepping stones to political office. As a result, many DAs are more concerned about padding their resume's than justice. The best way to pad their resumes is to have high conviction rates. Therefore when people are found NOT GUILTY, this hurts their conviction rates. They also can pad their resumes by prosecuting celebrities.

I knew one fellow who lost his job at 50 and took a telemarketing job at $10/hour to help pay the bills. The company they work for was run by thieves who took people's money but did not deliver the product. Eventually angry consumers called govt agencies and Federal agents raided the premise. This fellow was a 'worker bee' and was not privy to the secret the company was run by thieves. His job was just to phone people. Anyway, he was threatened with 15 years in a Federal prison and he got scared and took a plea bargain to serve about two years. They wanted to charge him with a crime for EVERY PHONE CALL HE MADE.

Anyway, plea bargain convictions do improve the DAs conviction rates.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like your friend had a crappy lawyer.