tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post7784073354340518213..comments2024-03-27T13:25:58.065-04:00Comments on Stayin' Alive: We take requestsCervanteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11302076828795198187noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post-64638107564116621582019-02-27T11:21:51.410-05:002019-02-27T11:21:51.410-05:00About 40 years ago I was a newspaper reporter. I c...About 40 years ago I was a newspaper reporter. I covered some trials for a particularly gruesome double murder. The state tried their best cases first, then the weakest one last. That defendant had a public defender who looked and sounded like he was straight out of law school. He was so inept that the county attorney, who happened to be sitting next to me, leaned over and whispered, "It's a shame that the quality of your defense depends on how much money you have." The attorney was so bad that I think the jury gave the defendant life in prison rather than the death penalty, as the other defendants had received, purely out of sympathy.Mark Phttp://www.caniconfidimus.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post-72955015207902951892019-02-27T08:20:30.349-05:002019-02-27T08:20:30.349-05:00One of the criticisms of abandoning the plea barga...<br />One of the criticisms of abandoning the plea bargaining practice is how the system would be overloaded. Well, that's really standing up for your ideals!<br /><br />And while it will, indeed, require a larger system, there will be less cases filed. All those weak circumstantial cases prosecutors are using now to force a plea will likely not be filed.<br />I believe this will lead to fewer wrongful convictions.<br /><br />Want more fairness in the justice system? Make 'em prove their case!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post-20901310825939275742019-02-26T23:49:17.291-05:002019-02-26T23:49:17.291-05:00I love the ideals of this country but I detest and...I love the ideals of this country but I detest and loathe the actualities. From the start--importing the first Africans to enslave exactly 400 years ago--to the government designed by rich Caucasian men to perpetuate their interests--it is a clusterfuck of entitlement, privilege for them at the expense of everyone else.Don Quixotenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post-57312025990126428402019-02-26T22:32:39.301-05:002019-02-26T22:32:39.301-05:00I see the flaws, and I agree. It's a terrible ...<br />I see the flaws, and I agree. It's a terrible system...until I consider all the others.<br /><br />That being said, a great improvement would be to eliminate plea bargaining. <br /><br />The only argument FOR plea bargaining is expediency. There is no justice in a system where 97% of federal cases plea down. Allowing plea bargaining allows the guilty to get a lesser punishment and it encourages the innocent to plead guilty to avoid the possibility of a wrongful conviction on a higher charge.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9263167.post-71261542292282970822019-02-26T19:41:42.391-05:002019-02-26T19:41:42.391-05:00What we need is a public defender's office tha...What we need is a public defender's office that is as well resourced as the prosecutor's AND require attorneys to rotate between them. For a start.mojrimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03416999187677478475noreply@blogger.com