Re:Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud
by emodendroket on Friday August 04, 2017 @04:09PM
(#14931775)
And you think getting rid of juries would help, or at least not make things worse? One of the reasons it's so high is that most cases are resolved as part of the plea system and never go to trial.
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Re:Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud
by charlesdm on Friday August 04, 2017 @04:18PM
(#14931867)
Isn't the main issue with a jury that is inherently unpredictable, and some people would prefer taking a decent plea over a bad verdict? People that aren't guilty shouldn't be forced to take a plea because the alternative could be worse. That is just wrong in every single way.
Re:Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud
by emodendroket on Friday August 04, 2017 @04:41PM
(#14932059)
I agree that the use of plea bargains in the system today is deeply troubling. But getting rid of juries doesn't help. You still have a situation where the prosecutor can tell you your choices are going to jail for two years or taking your chances in court and maybe going away for decades, and you still have the inadequacies of the public defender system. The jury system is one of the parts of the system least in need of reform.
Re:Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud
by watwut on Friday August 04, 2017 @04:25PM
(#14931921)
Which happens because of power prosecutors have (ability to decide charge which makes all the difference - plea can make difference between a year and risk of 30 years in prison) which has little to do with jury vs judge. Majority of defendants deciding that they don't want to risk (or cant afford) a day in court is not an argument for that system.
Re:Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud
by emodendroket on Friday August 04, 2017 @04:38PM
(#14932044)
It is a refutation of the argument that juries are bad because the US has a lot of people in jail, though.
Re:Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud
by watwut on Friday August 04, 2017 @05:07PM
(#14932272)
His argument was that juries prevent "arbitrary court system to throw people in jail who are innocent and removes other protections like jury nullification". There is nothing observable that would confirm that.
They don't do that, they prevent pretty much nothing.
Re:Martin Shkreli is found guilty of securities fraud
by emodendroket on Friday August 04, 2017 @07:07PM
(#14933105)
It says nothing one way or the other because the system isn't being used in those cases.
Put simply, if you want to make claims about whether jury trials or bench trials put more people in jail wrongfully by citing US incarceration data you have to somehow contend with the fact that the vast majority of cases don't go to a trial of any kind. Or at least have an argument as to why switching to bench trials would change that circumstance.